A Nice Quiet Place
by Pyeknu
Summary: Side-story sequel to "Phoenix From the Ashes." Free to pursue her own life, Miyamoto (née Tendō) Kasumi proceeds aboard HMCS Haida to prepare herself for university studies and spend quality time with her new girlfriend, OS(R) Sasamoto Narumi. Kasumi also finds herself helping Lum's Avalonian twin sister Hensō try to make a new life for herself now that she is free to do so.
1. The Gentle Mist Embraces The Thunderbird

Nerima, the Miyamoto residence, Monday 12 July 2010, mid-morning…

"So it's been done?"

"Hai," Miyamoto Shigeru said as he gently drew in the soothing tobacco fumes from his pipe. Kneeling on the front porch of his home — located off the Sasame-dōri in Asahi-chō west of Hikarigaoka Park near the border with the city of Wakō in Saitama Prefecture — he gazed out at his lawn. "Given what was revealed in the news broadcasts yesterday, it didn't really surprise me. No doubt, people within the various organs of government felt that — since we wanted to 'wash our hands' of what Sōun and Genma were trying to create — anything they can do to ease the process along was proper."

Seated beside him as she enjoyed morning tea, his eldest granddaughter Kasumi giggled politely. While it was seen as grossly crass in Japan to expose such dishonourable acts to the general public, the idea of actually _**filming**_ the final downfall of Saotome Genma in the presence of Moroboshi Negako had gained some wonderful dividends — to borrow Nabiki's words for it — for all those who had been associated with Genma or his best friend, the now-comatose Tendō Sōun. Remembering the scene the previous afternoon when the drivers of three taxis hired by the On Group — the company that managed the Yoshū Private Academy, located in the prefecture capital of Tochigi — to transport Nabiki, Akane and Karin to Ueno JR Station so they could take the Shin-kansen to Utsunomiya, Kasumi tried not to giggle again. Her sisters had been prepared to take the Toei Ōedo Line from Hikarigaoka to Ueno-okachimachi, where they would have transferred to Ueno-hirokōji and the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line for Ueno itself, and then board the Shin-kansen; they didn't have much luggage with them and they had allowances from their grandfather to purchase supplies while they were attending Yoshū. The drivers themselves had waved off such concerns, stating they had been TOLD by their dispatcher to get the three girls to Ueno _**immediately**_ just in case there were other monsters out there who'd want to try to replicate the actions of Kunō Tatewaki and the Hentai Horde at Fūrinkan High concerning Akane. And since the On Group was paying for it, the Miyamoto sisters didn't need to worry about forking out cash for the trip.

Kasumi then laughed as she remembered what she had sensed from Akane on being told that, which made Shigeru gaze quizzically at her. She waved it off. "Just remembering what Akane-chan felt like yesterday when the taxi took her to Ueno," she explained.

The retired financier chuckled before he sobered. "How was this morning?"

"Mirumi-san texted me to tell me about the 'reception committees' set up for Nabiki-chan, Akane-chan and Karin-chan," she answered. "Akane-chan was able to take down all thirty freshmen fighters who were there to challenge her; it actually was so bad that some of the people complained to Kyoko-san that Akane-chan cheated." As he howled with merriment, she added, "Nabiki-chan was challenged to a snap game of go by the school's resident champion, Hanahada Yūko; we'd know her as Kōyū Bunkyo. It was a draw, which Yūko-san thought was quite acceptable for a non-tōshi. As for Karin-chan, she was challenged by Omomuro Mikiko; she was Jokan Ichō, one of the other Seven Scholars of Jiàn'ān. Karin-chan had to create a small poem right then and there, then say it to everyone." She giggled. "She did very good according to Mirumi-san. She tells me that Mikiko-chan might have undergone her time of the month with Karin-chan right there."

He nodded. Getting a new granddaughter in Miyamoto Karin — known amongst her fellow tōshi as the reborn Poet of Dùshì Ford, Chinrin Kōshō — had been one of the wonderful gifts his granddaughters' interaction with the fighters of the Seven Battle Schools of Kantō had given them over the last two weeks. All badly shaken when Akane's then-fiancé, Hayashi (_né_ Saotome) Ranma, had been paralyzed thanks to his would-be wife Nǚ Shānpú, Shigeru's granddaughters would have probably sunk even further into the empty emotional pit the death of their mother Kimiko years ago unleashed on them and their father. Fortunately, as Ranma was recuperating at Nerima General Hospital, he made the acquaintance of Moroboshi Tariko, a weekend nursing volunteer who was the twin sister of the most famous teenager in Japan today. Noting immediately what was going on with Akane's iinazuke, Tariko called in her adopted older sister Negako, the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū — the sister school of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū that Shigeru's son-in-law had claimed to be a master of — to help in getting him back on his feet via DNA-recombination therapy provoked by a blood transfusion from an Avalonian bioroid clone that would eventually become his own spiritual twin sister, Kanami.

That meeting also brought Tariko's other adopted sister Hiromi into Ranma's life. She — known as "Ryūkō Kyōrei" and commonly referred to as "Reitei" — had been Liú Hóng, the Xiàolíng Emperor of the Latter Hàn Dynasty, in her first life…which effectively made her the spiritual "emperor" of all tōshi in this life. That contact between Ranma and Hiromi — coinciding with other events — would eventually see Kasumi, Nabiki and Akane become three new sisters of the Avalonians, the race of quite beautiful human-looking bioroid women that had fled to Earth in February to escape a century-long living hell of chattel slavery. That — coinciding with Hiromi's desire to see her brother and sister tōshi be forever free of the "Fate of the Magatama," the dark future that was said to haunt all those who had been reborn from the period of the fall of the Hàn Dynasty and the rise of the Three Kingdoms — would ultimately win the Tendō sisters the favour and protection of Yoshū. Provoked by Akane's new sensei and later lover Ebisu Kyoko — now called "Koshaji Gin'yō"; Akane had been the one to propose the "style name" add-on to her beloved's battle name — and driven by Akane's understandable desire to get away from Fūrinkan High and Kunō Tatewaki once and for all, that favour saw the youngest daughter of Tendō Sōun get a virtual twin sister in Karin, a demon with a calligraphy brush whose beautiful way with words could both impress and injure in the very same sentence. Nabiki and Kasumi benefited from it as well; invited to join the crews of ten starships assigned to the newly-formed United Nations Earth Defence Force on their first deep-space mission to the planet Yaminokuni, both made the acquaintance of two of the 213 plank owner crew of Her Majesty's Canadian Starship _Haida_, Naval Cadet Ikusawa Kyōko and Ordinary Seaman (Recruit) Sasamoto Narumi respectively.

For Narumi — a pure-born Terran-form Avalonian-Canadian modelled on a character from an adult video game from the late 1990s called _Zenkoku Seifuku Bishōjo Grand Prix_; her template was a first-year high school student from Kōriyama in Fukushima who was a passionate sportswoman, specializing in soccer — it had literally been love at first sight when she had met Kasumi…as it had been for Kyōko when she had met Nabiki.

Even now, after experiencing "the time of the month" — what Avalonians nicknamed that overwhelming telepathic/empathic drive that could be triggered deep within their souls which would make them move to forge a psi-bond with a perfectly compatible "bond-mate"; in the native society of the bioroid race's creators, the Sagussans, such bond-mates would be the equal of married couples on Earth — with the tomboyish redhead with the pale green eyes and the lovely tanned skin, Kasumi _**still**_ felt that she had fallen head-first into the Twilight Zone…and wondered when that very nice Rod Serling fellow would finally come along to confirm that had actually happened to her.

"So when are you going?" Shigeru then mused.

Kasumi jolted. "Ojii-san!"

He chuckled. "Kasumi-chan, I've met several of the Avalonians who have settled down here in this part of Nerima," he stated. "I actually watched what happens when one un-bonded girl meets up with another un-bonded girl and that thing in their minds clicks in to make them bond-mates. You NEED to be with Narumi-chan now, magomusume-chan." At her blush at his calling her "granddaughter" in the caring way he had always done, he sighed. "I'll be alright. I've lived alone since your grandmother died. I have people who come by to help me and help keep the house clean. Much that I'm more than happy to give you a place to stay so that you can get back on your feet after being made to waste away at your father's house for so long, it's time for you to go make a home you can call your own. That will be in Canada with Narumi-chan. Go do it."

She gazed on him, and then she took a deep breath…

* * *

_**A Nice Quiet Place**_  
by Fred Herriot  
A side story to _Phoenix From the Ashes_

Proofreading done by Rose1948 and Rashaan Butler

Based on _Ranma 1/2_ and _Urusei Yatsura_, created by Takahashi Rumiko; and _Ikkitōsen_, created by Shiozaki Yūji.

Including characters and references from _Gunslinger Girl_, created by Aida Yū; the _True Love Story_ series, created by ASCII and Enterbrain; the Jack Ryan novels, created by Tom Clancy; _Girl Friends_, created by Libido; _Zenkoku Seifuku Bishōjo Grand Prix_, created by Lyceen; _Ojō-sama Express_, created by MediaWorks; _Little Lovers She So Game_, created by NTT Publishing; _Harry Potter_, created by Joanna K. Rowling; _Battle Royale_, created by Takami Kōshun; the _Final Romance_ series, created by Video System; _Dan Cooper_, created by Albert Weinburg; _Top Gun_, created by Ehud Yonay, Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr; and _Doki Doki Pretty League_, created by Xing.

_Phoenix From the Ashes_ was derived from the fanfic _The Bet: Crippled_, written by Gregg Sharp. This story also contains characters and situations from the fanfic series _Urusei Yatsura - The Senior Year_, created by Mike Smith and Fred Herriot.

* * *

**WRITER'S INTRODUCTION**

_This side story takes a look at some of the characters from_ Phoenix From the Ashes_, further expanding on what happened to them after everyone returned to Earth in the wake of the UNEDF's first deep space mission to Yaminokuni. I also managed to take the opportunity to explain somewhat about what had happened to Redet Hensō between the "divorce" she suffered at Onishuto and when she was kidnapped by the Yaminokuni…not to mention how Miyamoto (_née_ Tendō) Kasumi adjusts to finally being able to live her own life without the demands of caring for her family weighing down on her shoulders. _

_Again, many thanks to __**The Wandering Soul of 1014**__ for his private requests for more information concerning the characters in this series, thus inspiring this short story._

* * *

Her Majesty's Canadian Starship _Haida_, in orbit over Toronto, Sunday 11 July 2010, two hours before midnight (Tōkyō time: Monday 12 July 2010, an hour before lunch)…

"Permission to come aboard?"

"Permission granted, Miss Miyamoto. Welcome back aboard _Haida_."

Kasumi deeply bowed to the quartermaster of the watch who had been waiting for her after she had appeared on one of the pads in Materialiser Room Six, which served today as the Canadian starship's "quarterdeck," the place where people coming or going from _Haida_ would board or step off the ship. Given that _Haida_ was a starship and that there was no corresponding star base in the _Star Trek_ sense of the term for the ship to be docked alongside of, a lot of the ceremonial rules that had governed the Canadian Navy for a hundred years had to be radically changed to accept the new reality of operating in deep space. "Thank you for allowing me to come here," she said.

The quartermaster bowed his head in turn. Master Seaman Troy Mason was a native of Moncton, late of H.M.C.S. _Protecteur_, the replenishment ship that was currently based in Esquimalt outside Victoria on Vancouver Island. A boatswain by trade and an eight-year veteran of the Navy, he — along with a crew of three dozen other professional military sailors — had been selected to come aboard Canada's first starship so that they could write the new deck manual for manning such a complex craft that was both a _**ship**_ in the classical navy sense…and an enormous _**aircraft**_ in the classical air force sense. He had heard about the wild debates that had rocked National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa in March and April as Navy admirals and Air Force generals hotly debated how such a vessel as _Haida_ would be manned and controlled. It had finally been decided that since _Haida_ was a _**ship**_ first and foremost, the "senior service" would take overall charge of her…but would defer to the "junior service" when it came to operating the ship while in atmosphere.

Or — as ship's navigation officer Lieutenant (Navy) Michelle Anderson put it — "We ship drivers have to learn now how to think in _three_ dimensions instead of _two_!"

"Well, since you are effective next-of-kin to one of the plank owners, ma'am, you're more than welcome to come aboard when we're not deployed," Troy said as the boatswain mate of the watch, Able Seaman Jean-Paul Bonnar, headed over to help lift the three suitcases Kasumi had brought with her from Nerima off the materialiser pad. "Since you're also planning to go to McMaster in September, it just saves you a tonne of money in hotel costs before you can either get your own apartment or get a place in the dorms. Or are you and Ordinary Seaman Sasamoto planning to get your own house?"

"Well, we need to know where this rather large ship is going to be based first," Kasumi stated as her eyes twinkled with delight at the level of help her lover's shipmates were willing to give to her — a _**civilian**_ from another _**nation**_! — as she transitioned from her old life into becoming a freshman pre-medical student at one of Canada's largest universities, located in the Ontario city of Hamilton at the west end of Lake Ontario where _Haida_'s legendary namesake was docked in honoured retirement. Despite the presence of a universal translator field on the starship, she spoke English with a faint accent; she wouldn't have the benefit of such translator fields when she went to McMaster, so the more practice she could get in using one of Canada's official languages prior to her facing her IELTS test, the better. "Any news on that?"

"Not a peep, ma'am," Jean-Paul stated with a shake of his head as he moved to take his place behind the materialiser control panel, moving to cycle down the system. "Did you get checked in by the Customs folks on Station Aurora before we beamed you over?"

"Yes, I did," Kasumi said before her eyes focused on the ship's crest over the young sailor's name tag on the right breast of his naval combat jacket. She was quick to notice that the centre of the badge was blue overall, a gold-and-white compass rose topped with a blue fleur-de-lis in that field, that over a mix of white-and-blue wavy horizontal lines — the heraldic symbol for water — though the top white line melted into a zigzag pattern that might represent mountains. She could barely read the name atop the badge below the naval crown that always topped Canadian warship crests. "Excuse me, but what ship is that?" she asked as she pointed.

The native of Sept-Îles smiled. "Navire Canadien de Sa Majesté _Jolliet_," he answered in Français — Kasumi heard it said "Her Majesty's Canadian Ship _Jolliet_" — before switching to accented English. "I'm part of a naval reserve unit that's based on the north shore of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence at Sept-Îles in Québec. There were a whole bunch of us from all the naval reserve divisions across the country who were called out to augment the ship's crew when she deployed to Yaminokuni." He then smirked as he and Troy exchanged looks. "Can't let the mud-eaters and zoomies have all the fun, eh?"

"You can say that again…oh!"

Both men braced themselves to attention as the doors to the room swooped open, revealing a very pretty woman appearing in her mid-twenties, possessing blonde-brown hair stylishly cut short and deep brown eyes. On seeing her, Kasumi was quick to sense she was an Avalonian herself, though the feel of her soul indicated she was Terran-turned and not Terran-born; there was a noticeable aura of age and knowledge within her that people like Sasamoto Narumi lacked. The rank insignia on her shoulder boards also hinted at her true origins; an officer, she had the two thick stripes — with that cute circular loop on the upper stripe which was nicknamed "Elliot's Eye" and marked that this woman possessed the Queen's Commission — sandwiching a thin stripe of a lieutenant commander in the Canadian Navy. Kasumi was quick to note that she also had an interesting add-on to the slip-ons bearing her rank insignia beyond _Haida_'s new "shoulder flash" badge: Instead of the nearly-black background between the stripes of her rank, she wore scarlet red.

"Doctor Cooper," Troy called out.

The doctor smiled at the two seamen, then gazed on the new arrival who had just beamed in from Japan. "Elaine Cooper," she introduced herself, holding her hand out. "I'm the ship's new chief medical officer. Just got assigned on Friday."

"On _Friday_?!" Kasumi gasped as she took the doctor's hand and shook it, glad to sense that the older woman's psi-shields were up — the elder Miyamoto daughter had learned how to do the same thanks to Narumi — so that no thoughts would leak out. Given that doctors carried a lot of personal information in their heads about their patients, allowing such breaches in privacy to occur was grossly unethical. "Then…!"

"The same reason Admiral Thompkins wasn't assigned as force commander until after the Task Force dealt with the Urusian Imperials and that lunatic Ōgi." Here, the ship's new chief medical officer rolled her eyes. "Bureaucratic SNAFUs. Anyhow…"

She gestured with her hand, making Kasumi's suitcases levitate into the air. On seeing that, the younger woman croaked out. "You're magical?!" she gasped.

"Non-magical psychokinetic, natural-born," Elaine answered as she escorted Kasumi out of the materialiser room, the latter's luggage floating a metre off the deck behind them. "We may not be as thick on the ground as our magical brethren, but we're there; what happened in World War Two thanks to the Übermenschen Gruppe made sure of that."

The younger woman nodded. Metahumans had begun appearing in the late 1930s all over the planet. Possessing a wide gamut of powers from the physical to energy manipulation to super speed travel to flight capabilities to the psionic and everything else imaginable, they soon adopted garish costumes to hide their identities from the general public as they went off to have all sorts of insane adventures, either breaking the law or serving as vigilantes working to keep the former group contained; doing that earned them all the moniker "mystery men" as a whole. When World War Two came, governments of various nations readily brought such people into national service to aid in the war effort. Atop that, genetic experiments done by the Germans and Americans produced more metahumans to serve directly as shock troops that could hit far behind the front lines as a way of disrupting the enemy's overall ability to fight. The Übermenschen Gruppe — Nazi Germany's most infamous primary metahuman force — were experts in such missions, causing considerable havoc across North America after America entered the war in 1941…until they ran headlong into the War Hawks, four Canadian servicemen, each representing one of the federal uniformed services, who were led by the Protector of All Life and Earth's Seeker Jewel Warrior, Major (now Major General) Dean Raeburn. In comparison to the War Hawks, the Übermenschen were ultimately found quite wanting; the group was totally destroyed by war's end.

"How were you trained?" Kasumi then asked.

"Back before she retired the first time, General Raeburn proposed the idea of creating a tri-service 'specialized warfare regiment' as a sort of successor unit to the War Hawks," the doctor explained. "The service chiefs — since the battles between 1 CSWU and the Übermenschen was just _**way**_ too fresh in people's minds — felt it would provoke a 'metahuman arms race,' especially with the Cold War going on at the same time. However, knowing _**that**_ particular genie was forever out of the bottle, the general created a private school for metahumans at her family home in British Columbia to train as long as students were willing to take the oath of service and joined the military." Elaine grinned. "Even if she was pulling the pin and about to become Earth's first deep space traveller in 'Fifty-four, Sensei was always thinking ten steps ahead of the game."

Kasumi grinned. "You call her 'Sensei?'"

"Wouldn't you?"

A nod in acknowledgement answered her. "True, you're right, um…"

"Call me Elaine," the doctor said with a smile on sensing what the younger woman wanted to know. "We have a mutual friend: Stan Gossip."

Kasumi blinked. "Then why isn't Doctor Gossip a major?" Having travelled on _Haida_ for the trip back to Earth — the Miyamoto sisters save Nabiki had been aboard the Canadian starship's British sistership, H.M.S. _Hood_, on the trip to Yaminokuni — she had a good idea on what the rank insignia worn by Canadian military personnel meant. Given that — until the executive curl was placed back on the rank insignia of Navy officers at the start of June as part of the celebrations marking the centennial of the founding of that service — the rank insignia for all elements of the Canadian Forces were the same at each rank level, Kasumi knew that Elaine was the equivalent of an Army or Air Force major.

"Reserve promotions aren't as fast as regular promotions," the doctor answered as they entered a turbolift. Captain (Doctor) Stan Gossip was a medical officer now serving as part of 23 Field Ambulance in Hamilton, a reserve unit of the Canadian Forces Health Services Group; he was a general practitioner and family doctor in civilian life. He had deployed to Yaminokuni as the temporary chief medical officer of a just-reformed armoured regiment, the 2nd/10th Dragoons of Niagara Falls, with a medical platoon from his unit to provide first-line health services support; it was through him that Kasumi was recommended to attend McMaster University, his alma mater. "We graduated from McMaster in 'Ninety-eight; I'm originally from Georgetown, north of Hamilton. Wardroom Flats!" she called out.

The younger woman perked. "Why there?"

"Because you're a guest, you'll be quartered with the junior officers," Elaine explained. "Yes, you're going to eventually bond with an ordinary seaman, but Brian insists that you — and your sister when she comes here — are treated as proper guests. Which means privileges in the wardroom. And yes, you can invite Narumi in if you want."

Kasumi's eyebrow arched, noting that Elaine had just referred to her own commanding officer, Captain (Navy) Brian Gamblin, by first name. _Is Elaine-san trying to be Gamblin-taisa's resident conscience, just like McCoy-sensei is to Kirk-taisa in_ Star Trek_?_ she wondered to herself before asking, "Would that be proper?"

"I'm sure Chief Beaulieu would curse the blue streak about it…but he's just too professional a sailor to make his disapproval public like that." Elaine then winked. "Besides, you're going to be an in-law to a rather wonderful group of young ladies. I'm so glad Lady Negako came up with the idea of augmenting the souls of all the plank owners with those poor lost souls trapped in that magical forest on Nanban Island."

"Did you actually meet Narumi before _Haida_ was commissioned?"

"I was part of the team that did their recruitment medical screening." Here, Elaine tried not to wince. "Dear God…the _emptiness_ inside them…!"

Kasumi reached over to squeeze her shoulder in reassurance, allowing a bit of her ki to flow into the doctor's body. "It's alright, Elaine. It's all better now."

A smile crossed the older woman's face. "Thank God for that," she noted as the turbolift car came to a stop and the doors opened to reveal one of _Haida_'s would-be stewards.

Kasumi, of course, knew them all on sight. "Seina!"

"Hey, Kasumi," Yamaguchi Seina said before she reached over to take two of the suitcases in hand. "You can relax yourself, ma'am. I can take it from here."

Elaine nodded as she allowed the last suitcase to settle down on the deck, and then she handed Kasumi a small pill bottle. "Here's something to help you adjust yourself to Eastern time. Take it with tea, then go to bed. Wake up is at seven o'clock and the bos'n calls can hurt your ears when they're piped through the intercom."

"Of course," Kasumi said.

The doctor went back into the turbolift to head to her quarters a deck up. The ship's wardroom was set on Deck A6 in the mid-level part of the upper forward superstructure off to the starboard of the ship's centre-line at the aft end. Junior officers quarters were set to port and various machinery spaces, sensory control rooms and weapons control stations were located forward, including the main Fire Control Room. This was also the deck the main observation lounge was sited on, though one had to descend to Deck A5 before going forward and up to the dome-line structure overlooking one of _Haida_'s sixteen-cell anti-ship missile launchers and Main Turret B, not to mention four of the anti-small ship/aircraft gun mounts. Given that the creation of the Haida-class Type One space battleship/carriers had been inspired by shows as divergent as _Star Trek_, _Battlestar Galactica_ and _Uchū Senkan Yamato_, it didn't surprise Kasumi that the ship named after the People of the Thunderbird on Haida Gwaii could be both as warm as a country mansion…and as frightfully cold as a military barracks in wartime.

Then again, Her Majesty's Canadian Starship _Haida_ was a _**warship**_ first and foremost.

"'I intend to go in harm's way,'" she then whispered.

"You know John Paul Jones?" a strange voice then asked.

Kasumi stopped, and then she turned to see an American navy captain step out of the wardroom. He was currently being escorted by Captain Jessica "Slipstream" Miller, one of the pilots of 434 (Bluenose) Space Tactical Fighter Squadron that Nabiki befriended during the Task Force's mission. During the fight over Yaminokuni, Kasumi's sister and her would-be lover volunteered to fly one of _Haida_'s CSF-196 Starfires into the wrecked hull of the stealth cruiser _Redemption_ to retrieve a materialiser unit bearing the living bodies of 135 Avalonian-Niphentaxian hybrids — who had disguised themselves as pure-born Niphentaxians — that had been working to sabotage _Redemption_'s mission from within. "Well, since Jessica's people tried to kidnap my sister and make her put on a bus driver uniform, I felt it was only wise to better understand the great naval warfare philosophers, Captain," Kasumi then answered as her eyes sparkled with amusement.

Jessica awked in mock outrage while the older officer laughed with delight. "This is Numbers' sister, Slipstream?" he then asked his escort as he moved out of Seina's way so that she could get Kasumi's luggage moved into guest quarters.

"That she is, sir," the fighter pilot from Brandon in Manitoba said before she flashed Kasumi an **I'll Get You Back for That!** look. She then took a deep breath before making a face. "I still can't believe Numbers wants to be a log wog."

Kasumi smiled; she could sense that Jessica — and, no doubt, the other Starfire pilots on _Haida_ — had been impressed by Nabiki's courage in the face of doing a crazy stunt like that even if her lover had been flying the Starfire…and only felt it right and proper to encourage her to pursue such a career. "Well, without logistics, a military force simply can't move," she then advised. "Nabiki's understood that for a long time."

The American nodded in approval. "Still, it's good to know that people who were trained in the traditions of one of the daughter schools of the Tensei-ryū can adjust so quickly to different situations," he stated before gazing at Jessica.

Taking the hint, the Canadian pilot smiled. "Kasumi, this is Captain Peter Mitchell, call-sign 'Maverick,'" she began introductions. "One of the most dangerous fliers you will ever meet outside Captain Kazanski and Colonel Cooper. Currently the commander of Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada until next week, when he'll report aboard _Arizona_ and become Commander Air Group of the 72nd Carrier Air Wing." To the captain. "Sir, this is Miyamoto Kasumi, older sister of Miyamoto Nabiki, call-sign 'Numbers.' She'll bond with Ordinary Seaman Sasamoto Narumi on New Year's Day morning after boot camp's done. She also intends to attend McMaster University to become a doctor."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Miyamoto," Mitchell stated as he held out his hand.

Kasumi warmly gripped it. "The pleasure's…!"

The alarm klaxon suddenly wailed to life. "Action stations! Action stations!" the voice of Jean-Paul Bonnar echoed over the intercom. "All personnel, man your battle stations! Potentially hostile alien starship now approaching Earth!"

The klaxon bonged again. "C'mon!" Mitchell called out as he and Jessica sprinted for the nearest accommodation ladder that lead up to the operations room.

Before Kasumi could wonder what she should do, Seina's hand snared hers. "This way!"

She was then pulled into the wardroom…

* * *

The operations room…

"Admiral on the deck!"

"Carry on! Report!"

"Ma'am, Station Alert has picked up an incoming vessel, now bearing 140 mark 172 off galactic north," Yoshino Tomomi called out from her station at the forward end of the room. "We have the contact on sensors, designate same Blackbird Six."

"Ma'am, that's the same bearing as the Phentax system," Takanashi Naoko added from her place at the starboard side of the main plotting table.

Hearing that, Rear Admiral Heather Thompkins grimaced as she took her seat at the aft end of the table. Despite the galling lack of decent on-the-job training because of the bureaucratic circuses that began when these ships were brought to Earth in the middle of February, the determination of the crew — Terran and Avalonian alike — to succeed in whatever task set before them shone like a sun. To the Québec-born arch-mage who was known more commonly as "Spitfire," it was a very good sign…even though she had aces up her sleeve in case whoever this clown coming in had some surprises of his or her own. "Commander Tai, can you get an ID on this idiot?" she asked.

Bren Tai was a handsome blond Oni-Urusian — now seen as "Oni-adopted Avalonian" thanks to DNA-recombination therapy — with blue-grey eyes, appearing to be a man in his late twenties. One of the people who had been captured in the Dead Grove on Yaminokuni almost a week before, he had been allowed to resettle on Earth in the wake of his being effectively orphaned by his own people due to the move by the government in Onishuto to forever wipe out the Imperial Round once and for all time. That had hurt him badly; even if he was a scion of one of the noble houses of the old Urusian Empire, he was actually a moderate politically even if he did support the Empire's restoration. Now a brevet lieutenant commander in the Canadian Navy, he was administratively a member of the ship's company of H.M.C.S. _Star_ in Hamilton now on Class C operational call-out to _Haida_. Given his experience in the Urusian Defence Force — he had topped out as a first officer on a Kashin-class battlewagon — his knowledge about local space defence forces was as precious now to Heather Thompkins as all the gold in Gringotts. "Ma'am, ECM shows the bandit is a Tsubasa-class destroyer," he said from his place at the combat officer's station. "Army of Lum ID. Running it through the warbook now…"

"Admiral, Station Alert now reports that Blackbird Six is moving directly towards assuming Earth orbit," Tomomi added as she tapped controls to bring up a holographic screen on the main plotting table so the people there could see what was going on. "If they're not stopped, standard orbit will be achieved in six minutes."

"Bless the Frozen Chosen," _Haida_'s captain mused from the head of the table.

Everyone in the room chuckled on hearing that popular nickname for the personnel posted to Earth's most northerly inhabited settlement. Canadian Forces Station Alert — located thirteen kilometres west of Cape Sheridan on Ellesmere Island in Nunavut and 817 kilometres south of the North Pole — had been a military signals intelligence station since 1956. Administratively part of 8 Wing of the Air Force out of Trenton — and having been given squadron status as 81 Signal Reconnaissance Squadron in May — while operationally under the control of both the United Nations Earth Defence Force and the North American Aerospace Defence Command, Alert's capabilities had been drastically upgraded by the Avalonians to make it one of the main control bases for a thick blanket of sensor drones that formed several detection lines between the asteroid belt and the orbit of Mars. Due to the equipment upgrades and the enhanced mission profile, Alert — which was still considered a remote location; personnel were only assigned there for six-month tours on average — had become an attractive posting request across Canada, especially for officers and non-commissioned members of the Communications and Electronics Branch.

"Life scans?" Heather asked.

"Aye, ma'am," Michelle Anderson stated from her post on the port side of the main plotting table. "Main Sensory, Ops. What's in Blackbird Six right now?"

"Ops, Main Sensory," came a reply from the Main Sensor Control Room a deck down. "Life scans complete. Registering a total of thirty crew, all Terran-form Avalonians."

Everyone blinked. "How in the Maidens' Names is that possible?!" Tai demanded. "A Tsubasa needs at least six hundred to run it properly!"

"Automation?"

Eyes locked on the young man in the white jumpsuit who was now seated at the master control board next to Tai's station; in normal sailing watches, the officer of the watch would be seated there. "Could they be automated?" Brian Gamblin asked.

Tai grimaced. "It's possible," he confessed. "But not normally done…"

"Whoever these people are, they might have been out of range of the factory when the recall happened," Naoko then proposed. "There has always been…"

"The chance of stragglers," Heather finished.

"Aye, ma'am."

"Boarding party?" Gamblin proposed.

The admiral blinked, and then nodded. "All Avalonians. Just in case."

"Aye, ma'am. Officer of the Watch, muster the duty boarding party."

"Aye, sir!" Michelle acknowledged…

* * *

Now approaching Earth…

"Master, we have detected our missing sisters."

A calm voice echoed over the intercom, "Excellent. Prepare to beam them aboard."

"Hai."

* * *

The Avalon bioroid factory (at Lagrange Point One between the Earth and the Moon), an observation dome over Gestation Tower #98, that moment…

"Evil swine…!"

**_Controller, if the sentience now piloting that destroyer achieves his mission, both_**** Haida ****_and_**** Yamato ****_will be totally stripped of their founding crews._**

A grim nod was made in acknowledgement. "That cannot be allowed. Take me to this creature."

**_Done._**

In a flash of energy, a would-be warrior-priestess of the Wise Lord of Zoroastrianism from another dimension and ten years back in time teleported herself away from her private quarters…

* * *

_Haida_…

A shocked gasp escaped the young-looking veteran of World War Two at the aft end of the main plotting table. "Admiral!" Master Seaman Kelley Saunders — she was one of the starship's team of naval combat information operators that helped directly control _Haida_ during any operational manoeuvres — called out as she moved to prevent Heather Thompkins from collapsing onto the deck as Hakaru Ayami got up from the chief engineering officer's station to help.

"Ma'am, are you okay?!" Gamblin called out.

"Casualty Clearance Team, to the Operations Room!" AB Jean-Paul Bonnar — who had come up from the quarterdeck when the ship went to action stations; MS Troy Mason had gone to the steering room in the very centre of the ship to pilot her out in case she had to break orbit and intercept the target — called out over the intercom.

"On the way!" Elaine Cooper's voice called out from the ship's medical station.

As Heather was helped back into her chair, Ayami — one of the co-creators of the Type One starships — reached up to touch the admiral's face and probe her mind to see what had hurt the arch-mage so; the would-be middle school senior who (to tōshi) was known better as "Jun'iku Bunjaku" had become an Avalonian shortly after she had returned to Earth in February. A second later, she blinked as she pulled her hand away. The other Avalonians in the room were quick to sense the shock and confusion now rocking Ayami; given her magical skills — which included masteries in magic-based mind arts such as Occlumency and Legilimency — Heather Thompkins was a black hole to their empathic senses. "Onē-sama, what's wrong…?" Naoko fretfully began.

"Someone who's almost as powerful as Raeburn-shōshō, Naoko-chan," Ayami said, which made all the people in the room pale in shock. "Obā-sama here sensed someone appear on the target destroyer who has a device that is similar to her friend's Power Jewel."

"Can we get the general up here now?!" Michelle demanded as the thought of facing a being who could probably fight _**Dean Raeburn**_ to a standstill made her heart seize up.

"No…!"

Gamblin's head snapped over. "Ma'am?!"

Heather groaned as she tried to allow her own Occlumency to restore her mind to normal after being swamped by that wave of both ungodly cosmic power and uncompromising grim purpose she picked up from the incoming alien ship. After a minute — by then, two medics from Sick Bay and two of the ship's musicians with a litter were stepping inside, they being intercepted by Ki Tsukihana (Kōgetsuei) so they could be briefed on what was going on — the admiral took a deep breath. "Have Alert scan the newcomer," she hoarsely instructed, ignoring the buzzing of a hand-held sensor being used now by Corporal Jim Woodson to scan her. "I think they'll find something very interesting there."

"Aye, ma'am!" Michelle said as she tapped a control to open a verbal link with CFS Alert. "Inukshuk, this is Thunderbird, do you copy?"

"This is Inukshuk, Thunderbird," came the reply from Ellesmere Island. "The target's come to a stop now. Current position is just inside the Moon's orbit, close to Lagrange Point Three. Confirmed your life scan readings. Terran-form Avalonians, total number thirty. There's something else there, but sensors are having a very hard time trying to lock in on it. We're trying to recalibrate sensors now."

"Thunderbird, this is Citadel Springs," a new voice laden with a British accent cut in. "Confirm what Inukshuk's just picked up from the bogey. We've seen this energy reading before. According to our magical friends, it's some strange lady with a power staff who's been appearing from time to time in various enclaves on Earth and on Nerio, too. Given past evidence, we don't think this one's hostile."

Heather blinked as she allowed Sasamoto Narumi to inject a stimulant into her neck. "Citadel Springs, this is Spitfire," she said. "Do you have a floo portal there?"

"A-a-affirmative, ma'am," came a nervous reply. Hearing that from whoever was talking to the admiral from Royal Air Force Station Menwith Hill — like CFS Alert, the signals listening post near the spa town of Harrogate in North Yorkshire was a part of the pan-national ECHELON Network run jointly by the communications intelligence agencies of Canada, America, Britain, Australia and New Zealand; also like Alert, RAF Menwith Hill's mission capabilities had been greatly expanded thanks to the Avalonians — the people in the operations room grinned; to actually speak to one of the _**War Hawks**_ would be seen as quite the privilege. "One of the people is trying to call the…"

"Hello!"

Heather blinked again. "Luna?!"

"Oh, hello, Admiral!" Luna Lovegood called in, her voice as clear as day. "Seems we have a crossed floo connection here. Were your friends trying to call Harry?"

The older woman nodded. "Yes. Luna, can you come through and have one of the people at Menwith Hill beam you up to the _Haida_? There's something I need confirmed right now."

"Certainly!"

"She just came through, ma'am," the gentleman who had took the call from the Canadian starship then reported. "One of the others is getting her to the materialiser unit."

"Direct to the Operations Room; starboard aft quarter," the admiral instructed.

"Right away, ma'am."

Seconds later, the tell-tale ring of a materialiser echoed through the space as a shower of light and energy allowed a certain blonde newspaper reporter and magical naturalist to appear. As soon as she was free of the transporter-like beam, Luna breathed out…before she noted the pale look on Heather Thompkins' face. "Oh, my!" she gasped as she drew her wand and move to make some first aid diagnostics.

"It's alright, ma'am," Jim Woodson — an Air Force native of Cornwall in Ontario who had been assigned to _Haida_ the same day Elaine Cooper was — stated. "The admiral sensed a very powerful wave of energy from the alien ship we just detected coming our way."

"Luna, the people at Menwith Hill report that this mysterious girl who's been appearing in various enclaves and on Nerio you told me about a couple days ago is involved," Heather stated. "Has there been ANY attempt at trying to contact her?"

Luna's eyes went wide. "'_**Her?!**_'" she gasped before shaking her head. "None. She does talk to people — usually those she saves from being hurt by things like rampaging griffin-dragons like she did Poyo Rainyday on Nerio sometime ago — but she's never given her name or revealed anything else about where she comes…"

"Thunderbird, this is Arrow Three."

Everyone perked. "Colonel Cooper?!" Michelle called out.

"That's affirmative," Lieutenant Colonel Dan Cooper, chief test pilot at the detachment of the Aerospace Engineering and Test Establishment on International Space Factory Sethlans at Lagrange Point Four, calmly replied. "We got the warning message from Inukshuk about the bogie. Lucky thing I was doing a test flight with Romeo-Lima Two-Zero-Three when the call came in. I'm on approach to the bandit right now."

"Coop, _please_ tell me you're armed!"

Eyes locked on Pete Mitchell; the future CAG of CVW 72 had come up to the operations room, but had kept quiet as he watched what was going on from a place beside Naoko. "That you, Mav?!" Cooper called back before he chuckled. "They let you free, eh?"

"Somewhat," Mitchell replied as the Canadians all grinned. "You carrying?"

"Even on test hops," Cooper coldly replied.

"Arrow Three, this is Inukshuk," the operator at Alert cut in. "We got you at six-kay klicks from the bandit and approaching. Do you have helmet targeting sensors?"

"That's affirmative, Inukshuk. I'll see if I can get some close up shots when I get in range," Cooper replied. "Bandit doesn't seem to be raising shields."

People blinked. Any competent warship captain in the local cluster would — on detecting the multiple layers of sensor nets set up inside the solar system — have defensive shields on-line to ensure that, if there was an accidental discharge of weapons, no one would be hurt. "EWCR, Ops," Michelle called to the Electronic Warfare Control Room.

"Ops, EWCR," Sub-Lieutenant Carol Moore called back.

"Scan Blackbird Six, Carol. Does she have shields up?"

"Wait one, ma'am," the younger MARS officer replied. As people waited, Luna — who never went ANYWHERE without a magical "first aid kit" which included capped vials of all the necessary lifesaving potions; said kit was, when not used, shrunk down and kept in a pocket — gave Heather a vial of pepper-up to help the arch-mage stay awake. A moment later, Carol called up, "Negative on shields, Ops. Weapons also inactive."

"Arrogant motherfuckers, aren't they?" the chief yeoman of signals, Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class Nathan Cotter, muttered from his post near Michelle.

"Chief, _please_!" the navigation officer scolded as she glared at him.

He jerked. "Yes, ma'am. Beg pardon, ma'am." And with that, he sent a crafty look at Gamblin, who was shaking his head in amusement at the subtle test the veteran naval communicator just did now to keep the younger MARS officer on her toes.

All the Avalonians in the room tried not to grin too much on sensing that; CPO2 Cotter clearly still didn't realize that his actions were as bright as neon to their empathy. A moment after that, Dan Cooper called in from the cockpit of his rebuilt Avro Arrow. "Thunderbird, Arrow Three. Am in visual range of the target. Taking pictures now." A pause, and then he added, "I just spotted a girl in a sailor suit uniform with some sort of staff in one of the observation bubbles on the spine of the bandit."

"That's her!" Luna affirmed.

"Colonel, we need pictures of her," Michelle called out.

"Roger that, Lieutenant. She seems to be standing over some man in what looks like a scientist's smock over normal clothes. Inukshuk, are you life scanners working alright? You reported only thirty live ones on the bandit, all Avalonians."

"That's affirmative, Arrow Three. Doing systems diagnostics to confirm…"

"**_HOLY SHIT!_**"

People tensed. "Arrow Three, this is Spitfire," Heather then said as she keyed into the communications network. "What did you just see?!"

A sigh answered. "Never mind about the diagnostic, Inukshuk. Spitfire, I just saw that girl blast the fellow with an energy attack from her staff. He's an android; saw his face fly off his head when this girl took him down. Looked to me like the hit shorted out his systems. I recommend that if Thunderbird is sending a boarding party over, they have HAZMAT gear with them to keep him under con-…oh, my GOD!"

Heather tensed. "WHAT?!"

Cooper groaned. "Spitfire, Arrow Three, recommend that when the boarding party goes over, the bin rats give them some jumpsuits. I just saw the bridge crew. It's…" He sighed. "Well, I'd rather not say and offend you and every other woman on _Haida_, Admiral."

People shook their heads. "Bastards!" Tsukihana snarled.

No one said anything to correct the young genius' language…

* * *

Within thirty minutes, _Haida_ was alongside the alien destroyer. Like all Niphentaxian and Urusian craft, the Niphentaxian vessel was orange overall, with black tiger stripes painted over much of the hull; a Tsubasa was an arrow-shaped starship that looked like the Concorde supersonic transport from a distance. The only difference between this ship's markings and that of an Urusian vessel was the symbol of the "one true faith" — a gold ring compass rose with the image of the Living Goddess flying up into the air — on the upper flanks forward. Once in close range, an all-Avalonian boarding party led by Naval Cadet Sawada Minako and accompanied by Hakaru Ayami had beamed onto the bridge of the alien ship.

What they found was enough to make all of the girls who went over groan.

"Lyna preserve us!" Private Asai Mayumi — the only one of _Haida_'s plank owners to elect to become an aerospace telecommunications and information systems technician, an Air Force trade whose members were seen as the Forces' in-house experts on all electronics systems from computers and data networks to communications networks and radars; given that Dan Cooper had spotted an android on this ship, Mayumi was automatically seconded to the boarding party given her intensively programmed technical knowledge — groaned out as she adjusted her combat glasses before walking over to gaze sadly on one of the nude women standing very still by the pilotage station. All of those women had control collars around their necks. Even with the DNA loyalty locks that had been programmed into the very genetic code of every Avalonian birthed on the factory before February, these devices were often used by Niphentaxians when it came to dealing with Avalonians; the collars came equipped with thought-inhibitor functions that could suppress the higher brain functions of a bioroid. A glance around the bridge revealed that save for a central chair for the captain, there were no seats anywhere; this would force the bridge crew to stay on their feet while on duty. "Who…?"

"I think this might have been sent by the same creep that saw you created."

Eyes locked on Ayami; the young genius from Kanagawa had plugged a portable scanner into the main systems control station to get at the computer core. "Are you sure, Onē-sama?" Minako asked as she walked over to stand close to the woman who had helped rescue her and 413 other would-be sex slaves from a very wealthy Niphentaxian merchant who had been caught by the then-unnamed U.S.S. _Arizona_ and J.S. _Yamato_ a light-year beyond the outer edge of the Phentax system at the same time the Noukiites and Yehisrites were moving to liberate the Avalonians. "How could you tell that?"

"Programming code," Ayami stated as she pointed at the main screen of her scanner. "When Tsukihana and I had all of your gestation chambers beamed off his ship, we found devices plugged into each chamber's control mechanism not built with any sort of Sagussan technology. I took one of them apart later to analyze it. Good code…for a Niphentaxian system," she added derisively; the technology of the long-dead Sagussan Fourth Republic that had been used to build _Haida_ and her sisterships was several thousand years ahead of anything in the local cluster. She then sighed as she looked back at her scanner. "No doubt, whoever controls this ship probably seized it before it could be destroyed by the ch'uokyek and the ib'f or captured by the Avalonians, then taken somewhere safe. As to why…"

"If these people were on the ship at the time of the Liberation, Onē-sama, it probably was seen by the Sky Lords as being seized by our sisters," Mayumi stated as she moved to get into the ship's flight recorders. "Let me take a look…"

"Watch yourself, Mayumi," Minako instructed. "Rest of you, get the jumpsuits on these girls, and then we'll get them ready for transport back to _Haida_."

"Hai!" the others in the boarding party chanted as they reached into cargo backpacks to pull out basic black jumpsuits; the destroyer's crew, at least, had slippers on their feet.

"Minako, go up to the observation lounge where Cooper-chūsa saw that android," Ayami then instructed. "If the girl who stopped this ship is this mysterious '_**her**_' that Lovegood-sensei and her friends know about, I think it'll be safe."

The would-be military police officer nodded. "Hai, Onē-sama. Kaoru!"

"Hai!" Takizawa Kaoru — she planned to become a military policewoman after she went through basic training — affirmed with a nod as she hefted her Peacemaker rifle.

Both girls stepped onto the lift platform at the aft end of the bridge; like Kashin-class battlewagons, Tsubasa-class destroyers had their main control station on the keel of the main hull forward of amidships. The lift immediately carried Minako and Kaoru into the main hull, stopping about half-way up to the ship's spine. Once there, both girls disembarked as they scanned around with their eyes and empathy. "It's dead here, Minako," Kaoru — a tomboyish and slender woman with shaggy blonde hair and dark grey eyes — hissed as she tried not to be overwhelmed by the sheer empathic _silence_ of this ship.

"I noticed," the crimson-haired, chestnut-eyed kendō-ka that had helped in the final downfall of Kunō Tatewaki affirmed. "Let's go."

Both headed aft towards another turbolift station. Getting into it, Minako stabbed a control for the top deck, and then relaxed as the lift ascended. A moment later, both would-be security specialists got off on what Urusian servicemen jokingly called the "bilge deck," which was the topmost deck in the destroyer's main hull and allowed direct access for shipwrights to get at the spine of the ship; such a structure effectively served as a keel would on a Terran vessel, even starships like _Haida_. Drawing out her scanner to confirm what she had seen after taking a moment to look over the detailed scans of this ship before leading her boarding party over, Minako smirked as she slipped the tricorder away. "Large discharge of meson radiation, right where the android Cooper-chūsa saw was at before it was blasted down."

"This woman's staff is meson-powered?" Kaoru asked.

"By the looks of it," Minako replied as both got to the small lift leading up to one of the observation lounges; on Urusian ships, there were no lifts as Oni could simply fly up into such a space. Both women stepped onto it, and then allowed the lift to bring them up to the lounge, which was no different than the main observation lounge on _Haida_ if only smaller. Looking around, the would-be military police officer hummed before her eyes locked on a fallen form nearby. "There you are…"

Both girls walked up to the unmoving android on the deck close to one of the lounge chairs. Immediately, they were quick to notice some profound similarities between this person and a character from a two-part episode of _The Bionic Woman_ first televised in 1977 that the title character had been forced to fight. The android's face had been literally knocked off, revealing a human-like metal skull with eyes, jaws with teeth and a nasal cavity. To ensure the face could function right, mechanical pistons and circuits were inserted all over the skull; no doubt, the face mask — which was lying nearby — was also controlled by these leads. He was shaped like a man who engaged in very healthy exercise, though he was no bodybuilder. His clothes were Terran Western-pattern and fitted the role of a dedicated scientist: Button shirt with tie under a knit vest over slacks and Oxford-style shoes, a smock draped over his shoulders. And save for his face having been knocked off his skull, he had no visible wounds.

"He's kinda cute," Kaoru mused, an interested smile on her face on noting that he had dark blue eyes and dark brown hair covering his head.

"He is that. I wonder what our friend did to him."

«I ensured he wouldn't accidentally cause any of you harm, Lady Minako.»

Both girls started, and then they looked around. Neither of them could see where that voice came from. "Hello!" Kaoru called out. "Who are we speaking to?!"

«I cannot reveal myself at this time, Lady Kaoru,» that voice called back from all around them. «But to assuage your fears, I am the person our magical friends — in a shocking display of a total _lack_ of imagination which simply surprises me — call '_**her**_.'» Both Kaoru and Minako were quick to sense the other woman's amusement. «Please understand, I seek not to cause trouble. To do so would earn me the Wise Lord's Disfavour.» Both prospective members of the Canadian Forces Military Police were quick to sense the religious emphasis on that phrase. «I do not desire same as I am also responsible for protecting my friends as well.» She then chuckled. «Our android friend is not truly evil by any stretch of the imagination…but he was trapped by set programs his mad master — which the lovely Lady Ayami and the eager Young Master Tsukihana dealt with when they rescued all of you the same day the Liberation of our race occurred — forced on him to ensure his loyalty. Tell the ever-wise Lady Mayumi to be very careful when she gets him into her laboratory and tries to reactivate him.»

"Cleanse him of any unsafe programming," Minako stated. "Mayumi-chan can certainly do that." She then smiled. "Be safe, sister. I pray whatever has forced you to remain veiled from all of us goes away so you and your friends can join us at last."

«That is up to the Wise Lord, sister. When He makes His Will known is up to He, not we. Know I will watch over all of you with diligence, Lady Minako. Farewell for now.»

Silence fell over the lounge, and then both Kaoru and Minako sighed before the latter keyed the communicator on the left strap of her web gear. "Sawada to Asai. Mayumi, have you finished analyzing the ship's central computer?"

"Just did a basic sweep, Minako," Mayumi replied from the bridge. "By the looks of what I've seen so far, that android Cooper-chūsa spotted was a sort of adopted son to the man who saw us all created. If you want to know, that fellow was killed in the fighting that broke out on Phentax Two after the Liberation. The android's name is Sunmee dai-Kohl."

"We just talked to our mysterious friend," Minako said. "She warned us that this fellow isn't really evil, but he may have surprises in his programming we'll have to watch out for when we bring him aboard _Haida_ for analysis."

"Understood…"

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

A general note: Given that this side-story is an effective continuation of _Phoenix From the Ashes_, it would be advised to read that story — especially the writer's notes which are contained at the end of each story part — to better comprehend some of the people, concepts and other things introduced here. If I made notes on EVERYTHING that was mentioned here which also was mentioned or appeared in _PFtA_, the writer's notes could potentially equal the story text in and of itself. I don't think that's necessary.

1) Translations: **Dōri** — City street; **Chō** — Suffix title for a town; **IELTS** — International English Language Testing System, the British-managed standard test for mastery of the English language for use both in work and in school; **SNAFU** — Literally "Situation Normal, All Fucked Up" (or "Situation Normal, All Fouled Up" for those who don't wish to be vulgar) and pronounced "snah-foo," this is the typical military slang term indicating a situation which is both quite bad yet normal; **Übermenschen Gruppe** — Literally "Group of Supermen," which is my play-off on the **Axis Amerika** team that first appeared in the _Young All-Stars_ comic book series that was published by DC Comics in the late 1980s; **1 CSWU** — First Canadian Specialized Warfare Unit, the official military title for the **War Hawks**; **Taisa** — Navy captain, Army colonel or Air Force group captain (NATO rank code OF-5); **Log Wog** — Nickname applied to personnel of the **Canadian Forces Logistics Branch**, the military's in-house combat service support personnel; **AB** — Short-form for the rank of **Able Seaman**; **MS** — Short-form for the rank of **Master Seaman**; **Six-Kay Klicks** — Military short-form term indicating a distance of 6,000 kilometres; **MARS** — Short-hand term for "Maritime Surface and Sub-Surface," the trade name for operations officers in the Canadian Navy; **HAZMAT** — Hazardous Materials; **Bin Rats** — Nickname applied to **Supply Technicians** in the Canadian Forces; **Ch'uokyek** — Noukiite for "great dragon," this is the name applied to all spirit-dragons native to that planet; **Ib'f** — Yehisrite for "dragon," this is the name applied to all-spirit dragons native to that planet; **Chūsa** — Navy commander, Army lieutenant colonel or Air Force wing commander (NATO rank code OF-4).

2) Metropolitan Tōkyō's subway rapid transit network is run by two separate companies who work in conjunction to ensure fast and efficient service throughout the Kantō basin. The **Tōkyō Metro** network, which was privatized in 2004, runs nine separate lines of service — including the **Ginza Line**, the oldest rapid transit line in Japan's capital city, first opened in 1927 — which connects a total of 168 separate stations. The **Toei Subway** ("Toei" literally means "operated by the metropolitan government") is a government-run system that is in charge of four lines — including the **Ōedo Line** — which connects a total of 106 stations. Atop this, the Tōkyō rapid transit system is augmented by surface commuter rail lines operated by Japan Rail and other companies which allow travellers to into the subway system via transfer stations.

3) New _Ikkitōsen_-based character notes: Both **Kōyū Bunkyo** (**Hanahada Yūko**) and **Jokan Ichō** (**Omomuro Mikiko**) are two people based on two of the **Seven Scholars of Jiàn'ān**; Akane's adopted twin sister **Chinrin Kōshō** (**Miyamoto Karin**) is, as noted above, also part of this group. Yūko is the current incarnation of **Kǒng Róng** (153-208 C.E.), who was a politician, scholar and minor warlord who was a twentieth-generation descendant of Confucius himself. Fans of the _Dynasty Warriors_ series will recognize Kǒng Róng as being one of the warlords who joined the alliance against Dǒng Zhuó; this man made an appearance in one of the cut scenes concentrating on Xiàhóu Dūn in _DW6_. Kǒng would eventually be defeated by the forces of Yuán Shào's eldest son, forcing him to flee to Xǔchāng…where he wound up being executed for being a political opponent of Cáo Cāo! Mikiko is the current incarnation of **Xú Gàn** (170-217), who is best known in the West by his famous treatise on the nature of the breakdown of political systems and their causes, the _Zhōnglún_ ("Balanced Discourses").

4) **Canadian Space Agency Station Aurora** (**CSAS Aurora**) is Canada's primary national space station, one of 506 such units that were seized by the Noukiites and the Yehisrites from Niphentaxian control on behalf of the Avalonians during the Liberation. This station orbits in roughly geostationary orbit at 35,786 kilometres (22,236 miles) above the equator at the longitudinal line of the headquarters of its parent agency, located at the **John H. Chapman Space Centre** in Longueuil, Québec (across the Saint Lawrence River from Montréal) at 73 degrees west of Greenwich. As an aside, CSAS Aurora is considered the equivalent of an **airport of entry** — places where visitors from another nation can legally enter Canadian territory — by the federal government, thus it has staff assigned to it from the **Canada Border Services Agency** (**CBSA**), which handles all customs services, border security enforcement and immigration enforcement.

5) Navire Canadien de Sa Majesté _Jolliet_ is one of the newest of Canada's **Naval Reserve Divisions** (**NRDs**) commissioned into the military. _Jolliet_ was first commissioned in 1989 in the wave of a major expansion of the NRDs in Québec. The ship itself is named in tribute to French explorer **Louis Jolliet** (1645-?), the first European to map the Mississippi River basin. He was last seen in May of 1700 travelling to Île d'Anticosti near Sept-Îles; his body was never found.

6) Coloured backgrounds to the spaces between the rank stripes of officers in the Royal Navy and other affiliated navies (such as the Royal Canadian Navy) — known officially as **Distinction Cloth** — first came into vogue in 1863 to differentiate specialist officers from line officers. In 1955, the wide spectrum of colours was done away with, reduced to mark only those officers who would be seen as non-combatants under the Geneva Conventions.

7) The internal structure of _Haida_ and her sisterships is influenced by 3D models made by **Star Ranger**, who — like I — is a fan of one of the more popular fanfic writers on the Internet today, **Robert M. Schroeck**, the creator of the multiple-series crossover _Drunkard's Walk_ fanfic stories. As soon as the complete design is done, such pictures will be published somewhere; at this time, I just don't know where.

8) Fans of the 1986 film _Top Gun_ should recognize the American Navy captain who was visiting _Haida_ when Kasumi came aboard. As an aside, **Naval Air Station Fallon** (**NAS Fallon**), which is located in western Nevada eighty kilometres east of the state capital of Reno, is the United States Navy's premier air-to-air and air-to-ground combat training facility. The **TOPGUN** programme — formally called the **Naval Fighter Weapons School** — moved to NAS Fallon from **Naval Air Station Miramar** in California near San Diego in 1996; at this time, NAS Miramar was transferred to the control of the Marine Corps.

9) The term **bus driver uniform** is applied these days to the service uniform worn by Air Force personnel in the Canadian Forces. This term originally was devised for the infamous **CF Greens**, a rifle-green service uniform imposed on personnel across the board after Unification; the CF greens were universally despised due to their plain cut and the fact that the colour of the uniform didn't match the traditional uniforms of the Royal Canadian Navy or Royal Canadian Air Force. When the **Distinctive Environmental Uniforms** (**DEUs**) came into service in 1988, the Air Force DEU maintained the general cut of the old CF greens. The Navy DEU adopted the old double-breasted jacket design once worn by RCN officers before 1968. The Army DEU incorporated shoulder epaulettes for all ranks; prior to the introduction of the DEUs, the only occasions epaulettes were worn was by either general/flag officers or personnel assigned as a ceremonial aide-de-camp to the Governor General or members of the Canadian Royal Family.

10) Part-time personnel in the **Primary Reserve** of the Canadian Forces are employed three ways. **Class A** service is the weekly parade at the local armoury or stone frigate with one weekend training period per month. **Class B** service is non-operational full-time employment, where a reservist would be brought on temporary strength with a Regular Force unit due to manning shortfalls. **Class C** service is operational full-time employment, which would include employment overseas in potential combat zones.

In the universe of this story, there is an additional form of service called **Class D** service, which is where personnel — always Avalonian-Canadians — are considered on-strength with a reserve unit and will do nightly and weekend training parades like people on Class A service, but are not paid as they are supported financially by local Avalonian communities.

10) **Canadian Forces Station Alert** (**CFS Alert**) is — as noted above — the northern-most inhabited community on Earth. First established as a weather monitoring facility jointly controlled by the Canadian Department of Transport and the United States Weather Bureau in 1950, it soon attracted the attention of the military as it was physically closer to **_Moscow_** (range of about 4,022 kilometres) than **_Ottawa_** (range of about 4,151 kilometres)! As this location made an excellent place for signal monitoring equipment, it was formally established as the "Alert Wireless Station" by the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1956. After the Unification of the Canadian Forces in 1968, the station was transferred to the administrative control of **Canadian Forces Communications Command** (the post-1968 tri-service signals and communications upper-level formation). Over time, equipment upgrades and defence cuts forced reductions in active numbers among the "**Frozen Chosen**" (as those assigned to Alert are always nicknamed) from a peak of 215 personnel in the 1970s to about 74 personnel by 1998. Due to the logistical resupply requirements for a place like Alert, the station was officially switched to the control of Air Command in 2009; as noted above, the station is an element of **8 Wing** at **Canadian Forces Base Trenton** (**CFB Trenton**) in Ontario east of Toronto. It should be noted that in real life, due to the small number of operational staff at the station, the chances of it becoming an official line squadron of the Air Force is next to impossible.

As an aside, an **inukshuk** is a stone landmark or cairn that is erected by travelling Inuit hunters to serve as points of reference, markers for travel routes, fishing places, camps, hunting grounds, places of veneration, drift fences used in hunting or to mark the locations of food caches. This sort of symbol is emblazoned on the flag of the Canadian territory of **Nunavut**, which encompasses Ellesmere Island where CFS Alert is located.

11) **Royal Air Force Station Menwith Hill** (**RAF Menwith Hill**) is — as noted above — a signals monitoring station located in the northern part of Yorkshire in England near the spa town of Harrogate. Jointly supported by both the Royal Air Force and the United States Air Force, RAF Menwith Hill has been described as the largest electronics monitoring station on the planet. The station was first established in 1954, the property leased to the United States to allow a signals monitoring unit close to the territory of the Soviet Union to be established by the Army. Over time, RAF Menwith Hill became one of the most important units of the pan-national **ECHELON Network**, which is a worldwide network of signals monitoring units — including CFS Alert and the station which remotely controls all the functions there, **Canadian Forces Station Leitrim** (**CFS Leitrim**) southeast of downtown Ottawa — that was originally geared towards monitoring all communications emanating from the Soviet Union and its allied states. These days, ECHELON is controlled by the following organizations: The **National Security Agency** (**NSA**) of the United States, Britain's **Government Communications Headquarters** (**GCHQ**), Canada's **Communications Security Establishment** (**CSE**), Australia's **Defence Signals Directorate** (**DSD**) and New Zealand's **Government Communications Security Bureau** (**GCSB**). While its existence has not been publicly confirmed by any of the agencies involved in it, ECHELON — even the name has never been confirmed — is believed to be able to tap into any form of communications, including the Internet and wired telephone calls.

12) **Asai Mayumi** and **Takizawa Kaoru** are both characters from _Doki Doki Pretty League_, a strategy game with dating simulation game elements that was produced by Xing in 1997. The game makes the player become the manager of an amateur girls baseball team composed of third-year middle school (Grade 9 in Canada) students; the player must ensure that the team succeeds when playing other teams by ensuring all is well with the members of the team both on and off the diamond. In the game, Mayumi serves as the second baseman while Kaoru is the third baseman. Mayumi is often depicted wearing a scientist's smock over her school uniform or baseball team uniform and experiments with robotics and other high forms of technology. Kaoru is the game's resident tomboy and the most obvious athlete on the team; it's quite obvious to me that she was modelled in salute to **Ten'ō Haruka** (**Sailor Uranus**) from _Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon_.

As an aside, an **Aerospace Telecommunications and Information Systems Technician** (**ATIS TECH**) performs, supervises and directs all repairs and maintenance of all types of Air Force telecommunications and information systems. Personnel in this trade also manage and maintain mobile and fixed satellite communications systems, microwave systems, switchboards, cable plants and all forms of command and control computer systems and networks. Personnel in this trade are employed either at Air Force bases across Canada…or as part of **8 Air Communication and Control Squadron** (**8 ACCS**) at Trenton. This particular squadron — which was first formed in 1969 and achieved squadron status in 1993 — is a unit that can rapidly deploy teams of personnel anywhere in the world who could set up equipment to support air traffic services (ATS) and communications and information systems (CIS) in support of military operations, exercises, peacekeeping missions, assistance to civilian authorities, special operations and back-up operations for fixed airfield installations.

In the universe of this story, a sister squadron to 8 ACCS — **21 Air Communication and Control Squadron** (**21 ACCS**) — will be established to provide the same sort of services as an operational support element of 21 Space Wing, H.M.C.S. _Haida_'s on-board Air Force support formation. Asai Mayumi — after graduating from trades training — will become a part of 21 ACCS.


	2. HMCS Haida's Mad Scientist

_Haida_, in orbit over Toronto, Monday 12 July, three hours after midnight…

"How are you feeling now, Admiral?"

A groan answered. "Other than suffering a forty-aspirin headache, I'm just as right as rain," Heather Thompkins moaned as she reclined herself on one of the beds inside Sick Bay. Now hovering over her was Aruka Riyu, one of the many Urusian-form Avalonians who had helped crew the _Redemption_ before its destruction. The system engineer — now an acting sub-lieutenant and maritime systems engineering officer in the Canadian Navy, part of H.M.C.S. _York_ in Toronto; her normal tasking was to give on-the-job training to native Canadian maritime systems engineering officers, maritime engineering mechanics, technicians and artificers, electrical technicians, hull technicians and fire fighters on how the propulsion, energy-generating and life-support systems on _Haida_ actually worked — was also a first aid specialist, so she had been called to the medical station when the action stations alarm rang.

Heather nodded her thanks as the pretty twenty-something girl with the rose-pink hair and chocolate-shaded eyes — Riyu was modelled on a Seishin-Urusian, so she didn't have horn buds on her skull — handed her a cup of water and two Tylenol. "Thanks…"

"What the hell happened?"

Everyone froze on hearing that icy voice, and then they all turned to see the brown-haired, blue-eyed tomboyish woman in the temperate woodland CADPAT uniform with dark green flight jacket and buff gold beret now standing at the doorway that led into the main reception room. On noting who it was, Heather moaned. "Dean, you're not my mother!" she hissed out.

"No, but I AM still responsible for your welfare," Major General Dean Raeburn said as she came up to peer intently at the arch-mage. Riyu was quick to get out of the air cavalry officer's way, sensing that the former leader of the War Hawks was NOT in any mood to deal with anything that would stop her from making sure Heather was healthy. To all the Avalonians in the room, the fourteen decade-old Jewel Warrior now serving as Master General of the Air Cavalry — the senior officer of the just-reformed Royal Canadian Corps of Air Cavalry, the Canadian Army's in-house tactical air forces — now projected an aura that would probably frighten even the Master of Entropy Himself! "Who the hell nearly fried your brain out?" she then asked as she probed Heather's ki lines with a finger.

"A strange woman with — as has just been discovered now — a meson-powered energy staff who's been popping in and out of magical enclaves on Earth as well as visiting Nerio from time to time," the rear admiral answered as she relaxed herself.

Dean blinked before sighing. "Great! That means _**I**_ won't be able to find her."

"_**You**_ wouldn't be able to find her?!"

That was Redet Hensō, former would-be wife by Urusian custom to Moroboshi Ataru and now bond-mate to Takanashi Naoko. The pretty Oni-form Avalonian had volunteered herself to help out in Sick Bay. Unlike the other Urusian-form Avalonians aboard _Haida_ at this time, Hensō didn't have any decent skills due to her being effectively treated like a princess by her parents over the five years she lived with them since that awful day on Home Base when she had been created…and found herself shifted in the body of her own template/elder sister Lum thanks to a horrid magical curse unleashed on the latter when she was born.

Quickly sensing the shock many of the people in the room currently felt on hearing that admission from _**Dean Raeburn**_ — whose three billion-year old Power Jewel gave her the abilities of a living god — the "Protector of All Life" tried not to groan. Her power was vast and only effectively restricted by the extent of her own imagination, which had been enhanced to an unprecedented degree by Dean's "Papa-sensei," the late Immortal Master Hosan Hirosuke…but there were other limits as well. Despite that, thanks to her power and skill, she was seen by all who knew of her on Earth and on nearby planets as the most dangerous person alive today, matched in fighting skills only by Hensō's would-be sister-in-law Moroboshi Negako.

"No, I wouldn't…if the meson that powers this girl's staff was forged on another planet," Dean answered. "It's the one down-side to meson, kid. Since meson is seen as the 'atom of life,' whatever meson is in this girl's staff will be automatically keyed to her own life force. If she doesn't want to have me find her, she can use the meson in her staff to mask herself from me; this is the reason I found it so hard to track the Übermenschen when they were operating in North America during World War Two."

The others slowly nodded, quickly understanding the curious logic behind that fact. "So if you — who has a Power Jewel — moved to locate her and she wished not to be found, her staff will keep her cloaked from you," Hensō recapped.

"That's right. Now, there _**are**_ other ways of finding this girl if she ever showed up close to me…but if this staff of hers is sentient in any way…"

"It'll warn her off from doing something that 'stupid,'" Heather finished.

"Such a pity, then."

Eyes locked on Luna Lovegood; the magical newspaper reporter had been helping Elaine Cooper in treating Heather. "What do you know of this girl?" Dean asked.

"She's Japanese, most likely from Shikoku given her accent. There's no logical pattern at all concerning where she goes and why, but she seems to always appear whenever there might be some sort of trouble brewing. She clearly loves dragons and other magical sentients, though she is also quite friendly to magical humans," Luna answered. "Hagrid thinks the world of her; she's stopped five attempts at dragon poaching that is known to the general public in Europe. As to events elsewhere, I can't say; that sort of intelligence is still being gathered by Father's staff at the _Quibbler_ and _The News of the Magical World_. She saved Princess Poyo Rainyday's life from a griffin-dragon sometime ago near Ariadne on Nerio; she's visited there many times since she first appeared in March. Speaks very formally, almost classically." She hummed. "Now that I'm thinking about it, she almost sounds like Hiromi does at times. Always addressing people with very flowery honorifics: 'Lady Luna,' 'Master Harry,' 'Wise Mistress Minerva' and the like." As people smiled, she added, "She can also be quite verbally vicious to those who've earned her displeasure…before she introduces them to her staff's power and causes them a lot of pain."

"Has she killed?" Heather asked.

"No, she hasn't, Admiral…at least to my knowledge," the younger woman answered frankly. "When she dealt with the dragon-poachers, she disarmed them and trussed them up, depositing them with the local aurors to be processed. Never destroys wands; she clearly understands they need to be intact to allow evidence to be collected. And she leaves very nice letters — written via word processing programs; nothing hand-written — pinned to them, explaining what crimes they've committed." Luna then smirked. "Because of that, the Huldufólk in Iceland gave her quite a cute nickname: 'Vinur Drekar.'"

"'Friend of Dragons,' Miss Luna?" Riyu asked; the ship's translation fields had immediately translated that phrase in Íslenska for her to understand.

"Exactly. My friend Alejandro and his crew have interviewed those dragons whose clutches the Vinur Drekar saved from poachers for articles in _The News of the Magical World_. According to what they have all sensed of her whenever she comes by to visit, she means no harm…but is currently trapped by a VERY strong sense of giri concerning her friends. No matter what she does, she is concerned about her friends first. Passionately so."

On hearing that, Dean seemed to deflate slightly. "Well, if giri is involved, that settles it for now," she admitted. "Besides, magical dragons on Earth are very good judges of character. And she _did_ stop that walking Frankenstein monster that was directing that destroyer here from getting those girls on that ship killed by accident."

"Elaine, what have you found out about those girls?" Heather asked.

Elaine — who had been seated at a nearby table as she typed away on her dataPADD — sighed. "All of them are modelled on video game characters, no different than most of the original crew of both _Haida_ and _Yamato_. They're physically quite well; no signs of rape or any sort of physical abuse on them. Mentally, they're in the same shape their sisters were in when Tsukihana and Ayami rescued them all back in February. I'd recommend getting Lady Negako up here with the Dragon Jade to get their souls augmented."

"Call her and ask her to come up," the admiral ordered.

"Aye, ma'am."

* * *

An hour before breakfast…

A shrill whistle echoed loudly through the cabin, causing a sleeping Miyamoto Kasumi to moan. As she moved to sit up, allowing the blankets to fall away from her nude body, the boatswain mate of the watch called out over the intercom, "All hands to breakfast!"

A second later, a gentle chime echoed from the main door. Recognizing the signal that someone wanted to come in, Kasumi moved to cover herself. "Come!"

The door swooped open, revealing Yamaguchi Seina with a tea service. "Good morning, Kasumi," she said as she walked over to place the tray on the nightstand to Kasumi's right. "Did you get enough sleep after last night's excitement?"

"Somewhat…but that dreadful whistle simply has to go!" she moaned before allowing herself to relax as the would-be steward moved to prepare her tea. Since the door had automatically closed behind the tomboyish girl with the umber-shaded hair and the dark grey eyes, she allowed the blankets to fall away from her chest; Avalonians like Seina wouldn't even blink twice on seeing a nude woman's body. "Why is that, anyway?"

"Navy tradition," Seina said as she handed Kasumi a cup of Red Rose tea. "And there's just no way to shut off the intercom when the bos'n calls are made. If he heard that had happened anywhere on the ship, the Coxswain would literally have kittens."

Kasumi reluctantly nodded. _You're lovers with a Navy girl, Kasumi. As long as you're aboard this ship, you can't ignore that fact at all_. "What happened last night?"

"A Niphentaxian destroyer controlled by the android 'son' of the man who saw us created in the first place came into the system," Seina explained; Kasumi had been kept in the wardroom while the _Haida_ was at action stations. "We were able to rescue thirty sisters — all modelled on video game characters like many of us — from the ship. That android's now in Mayumi's hands; I shudder to think about what she'll do with him."

Kasumi giggled. In the very brief time she had got to know the Avalonian-Canadians on _Haida_, she had learned a lot about all the interesting quirks in their personalities that exposure to the Dragon Jade had unleashed in all of them. Asai Mayumi — modelled after a middle school senior in the strategy/dating simulation game _Doki Doki Pretty League_; the air force private's namesake and physical template was the second baseman in an amateur girl's baseball team whose activities on and off the diamond were managed by the player character — had become _Haida_'s resident mad scientist after her soul had been fully awoken by the Jade. By the time Kasumi parted from her lover on Saturday evening in Japan, Mayumi had transformed one of _Haida_'s several electronics equipment repair rooms into her personal work space. Someone — as to who, no one had any idea — then posted a neon sign over the doorway to that space, which flashed **EVIL SCIENTIST!** all the time. Much to the surprise of everyone, Mayumi had taken that salute to the 1946 Bugs Bunny short _Hair-Raising Hare_ in stride.

"So why was he here anyway?" she then wondered.

"To take us away from those who 'stole' us," Seina reported. "As to what might have happened afterwards, I can't say; Mayumi hasn't had the chance to do a thorough deep-dive of his central memory to find out things like that. Still, all our sisters on that ship had inhibitor collars on them." She made a face on saying that. "He wasn't evil _per se_…but given that he was programmed as a sort of overseer, his actions were…" She then shrugged. "Anyhow, breakfast. You can have it in the wardroom or in Main Cafeteria Two."

Kasumi nodded. "Thank you."

The would-be steward headed out. As she relaxed and enjoyed the tea, Kasumi tried not to frown at the idea of what could have happened hadn't the people on _Haida_ as well as places like CFS Alert and RAF Menwith Hill been on the lookout for intruders. _How many times could people from other worlds have come here to cause mischief?!_ she wondered, recalling what she heard and read about the several times agents of the Men In Black intercepted Urusian Imperial attempts at kidnapping orphaned Terran children to make them slave household servants; information about such incidents had gone public after the Niphentaxians had been driven off Earth by the Noukiites in mid-February.

Her frown then deepened as she considered the sheer scale of infiltration amongst the peoples of Earth by the Niphentaxians revealed that day; many observers of the "one true faith" had been based in Nerima, living in houses close to the Tendō home. _Why on Earth didn't people spot them beforehand?!_ she then wondered. _Surely, their pointed ears would have been a dead giveaway, especially in_ **Japan** _of all places! Unlike Ran-san and Damasu-chan, Niphentaxians can't morph their ears to look like Terrans!_

Shaking her head, she finished her tea before heading into the small washroom. Unlike surface warships — where the lack of space enforced the use of communal washing places for the whole crew save the captain — _Haida_ had been fitted with individual washrooms for every cabin. It was quite the luxury despite the standing need to keep such places spotless; navies worldwide were notorious when it came to making their crews perform daily cleaning details to ensure diseases didn't break out in such a benign environment like a warship. Given _Haida_'s sheer size, though, a compromise had been devised by Ki Tsukihana right at the start; semi-sentient automated cleaning devices were stored in all cabins and work spaces on the starship, ready to be used when needed.

That would, when it concerned the ship's officer contingent, save the stewards on _Haida_ a lot of work. The only pure-Navy trade in the Canadian Forces Logistics Branch — whose members were permitted, by tradition, to wear the crown-and-anchor badge of the Naval Operations Branch as the trade had originated in the pre-1968 Royal Canadian Navy — stewards were traditionally responsible for the management and upkeep of places like the wardroom, the ship's store, the drinking messes and the living spaces used by officers on ship. Of course, Kasumi's own sense of personal etiquette would forbid her from allowing herself to become a slob even if she was a guest on _Haida_; there was just NO way that she would force someone like Seina to pick up after her.

Once she was cleaned and refreshed, Kasumi slipped on the dark blue Canadian Forces naval combat dress that had been set aside for her by Narumi before the former had come aboard; as she was a civilian, she didn't wear epaulette slip-ons. She had smiled on seeing that her name tape had her family name in both Latin script and kanji. Once her Gore Tex boots — spit-shone, of course — were on her feet, she styled her hair in a simple ponytail, then walked to the storage closet by the door. Pulling out the cleaning device, she tapped it on. "Have the quarters cleaned and make the bed."

"_Aye-aye_," the device — it looked like a squat version of R2D2 from _Star Wars_ with manipulator arms, though coloured a dull grey — chanted before scooting off to work.

With that, Kasumi stepped out of her cabin…and then gasped on nearly running headlong into the ship's senior non-commissioned officer. "Oh!"

Fortunately, Chief Petty Officer 1st Class Jacques Beaulieu was quick on his feet even for a thirty-two year veteran of the Navy. "Good morning, Miss Miyamoto," he said with proper politeness towards a guest of his ship. "Did you get some sleep last night?"

She smiled. "Thanks to Doctor Cooper, I did."

The veteran electrical technician from Hawkesbury on the Ottawa River near the border with Québec chuckled on hearing that. "Had to give you some Gravol, eh?"

"I'm not sure if it was actually that," Kasumi confessed as they headed towards the main corridor. "Are the new girls going to be allowed to join the ship's company once their souls are augmented by Lady Negako with the Dragon Jade?"

"Probably," Beaulieu stated. "The battle group being formed for this ship around the First of the Canadian Guards will have the full complement of troops, including zipperheads, camel jockeys, gunners, sappers, jimmies and all the support trades. Matter of fact, if you'll excuse me, I have to get ready to head down to the quarterdeck; the RSM of the First is coming today to settle in before the first company comes aboard."

She nodded. "No rest for the wicked, I take it?"

"What do you think?" he joked.

Kasumi giggled as he headed off, and then she made her way to the wardroom. There to receive her at the doorway was another of _Haida_'s plank owners, Nozoe Chiemi. Another person based on one of the _Grand Prix_ characters, the brown-eyed girl with the long caramel hair — her template was a girl from Kawagoe in Saitama not far from Nerima — had, long before her soul was augmented by the Dragon Jade, mastered the very arcane art of making sweets. In fact, Chiemi was SO good at making cakes and other snacks, the female officers on _Haida_ all dreaded the impact of such sinful delights on their waistlines…even if they just couldn't resist having them; they were THAT delicious!

"Good morning, Kasumi," Chiemi cheerily called out. "Breakfast?"

"Please."

"Right away."

With that, Kasumi made her way to one of the small tables in the room. The wardroom was warmly decorated with rich wood panelling, a thick carpet, quite comfortable seats around tables anchored into the deck and a lounge area with a full entertainment system at the forward port corner. There was a long main table at the aft end; no doubt, this was meant as a meeting table for the senior officers as witness the presence of several lieutenant commanders and even a full commander at one end. Noting the presence of the latter officer, Kasumi looked confused; she didn't recognize him from her previous time on _Haida_.

"Another one who got posted here on Friday."

Kasumi perked, and then she smiled. "Good morning, Elaine. Sleep well?"

"Just a couple of hours. No rest for the wicked, sadly," Elaine Cooper said as she sat down to Kasumi's left. Also joining them was a navy lieutenant with a very well-sculptured face topped with a Romanesque nose, framed by wavy brown hair and pierced with the most intensive blue eyes Kasumi had ever seen on anyone, even Hayashi Ranma. Her rank insignia also had a coloured background between the stripes, though the colour there was a dull cherry and not scarlet like what _Haida_'s new CMO wore.

Elaine was quick to sense that. "This is my chief nurse — and a former classmate of mine in Fort Saint John — Lynn Kennison. Non-doctors in the Medical Services wear cherry on their ranks and not scarlet if they're Navy. Lynn, this is Narumi's fiancée."

Lynn smiled. "Pleased to meet you, Kasumi," she said as she offered her hand.

Kasumi — surprised to hear Elaine refer to her pending bonding with Narumi as a formal engagement for marriage — gripped it. "Assigned on Friday as well?" she asked.

"Unfortunately," the native of Welland in Ontario replied. "It amazes me that the idiots in the Land of Oz were willing to let this ship go out without people like the executive officer — that's Commander Choquette over at the main table — and some other key personnel as well. Fortunately for Commander Andrews and Commander Xavier, they'll be promoted in place instead of having people assigned over them."

"Not to mention a flag officer," Elaine noted.

"True," Lynn said with a chuckle. "You're going to McMaster, Kasumi?"

"Yes," Kasumi affirmed with a nod. "Did you go there as well?"

"Actually, I attended Mohawk College — that's also in Hamilton — but did my nursing training at the Institute for Applied Health Sciences; that's the facility where both Mohawk and McMaster students train," the nursing officer replied. "I…damn!"

Elaine perked. "What?" She then noted where Lynn was looking. "Oh…"

Kasumi looked herself…and then she frowned on noting a lone person seated at a corner table looking out one of the view ports into the space surrounding _Haida_. "Hensō…" she whispered. "What's wrong with her? She seems so depressed."

Lynn sighed. "What do you expect? She was literally abandoned by everyone who once cared for her before that whole business with the Yaminokuni started…oh!"

They watched as Takanashi Naoko came over to sit beside her bond-mate. Gazing on Hensō, Kasumi was quick to see the Oni-form Avalonian brighten considerably as she allowed Naoko to warmly embrace her. Immediately, Yamaguchi Seina was there with breakfast trays for both people, which they quickly dug into with gusto. Sensing the powerful bond of love that connected the former wife of Moroboshi Ataru to the newly-selected Elder Mother of the Avalonians on _Haida_, Kasumi felt herself relax. "At least she has someone with her now to keep her spirits up," she noted before nodding her thanks as Chiemi came up with breakfast trays for all three of them.

The would-be steward hummed. "She needs more," she whispered.

"What do you mean?" Elaine quietly asked.

"Well, how would you feel if you found out your whole life was a giant lie, Doctor?" Chiemi asked. "And that no one refused to accept the truth as the Lady K'ekhech revealed it back in Onishuto in December?" She gazed once more on Hensō. "Much that I understand why Onē-sama wanted Hensō away from Ataru-oniisama, she still needed help."

"I wouldn't worry about that, my dear."

People turned as two more people joined them. "Padre Vincent!" Kasumi called out on recognizing _Haida_'s chaplain, and then she gazed on the other, a woman the same age as _Haida_'s chaplain who was in CADPATs with army major's rank on her slip-ons, a chaplain's cross over the stripes and the title **CHAPLAIN** on a unit shoulder flash written in soft gold under them. "Er…?"

"My wife, Padre Alice Klein," Major (Reverend) Vincent Klein said as he waved to his spouse. "She was also my classmate at theological college back in Saskatoon. She currently teaches at the Canadian Forces Chaplain School and Centre in Borden."

"Narumi's bond-mate?" Padre Alice — a woman with silver-shot black hair and hazel eyes — asked as she indicated Kasumi.

"On New Year's morning," Kasumi answered as her cheeks reddened. Why on Earth were everyone aboard _Haida_ so willing to see her and Narumi bond? "Don't want to distract Narumi while she endures the horrors of basic training at Saint-Jean."

Everyone chuckled. "When will your sister be here?" Padre Vincent then asked.

"Not until the end of this week, Padre; that's when summer vacation starts in Japan," Kasumi answered. "I suspect that while Kyōko is off facing her basic training, Nabiki will be spending the rest of summer vacation doing everything in her power to help get things on the civilian side of the Earth Defence Force organized and off the ground. After all, it's future job security." She then smiled.

Everyone laughed…and then they perked on hearing a polite cough. "Sorry to disturb you all," _Haida_'s chief steward, Petty Officer 1st Class Nicole Cousins, said as everyone turned to gaze at her. "Padre, the captain wants to see you in his quarters at oh-nine-hundred. Your wife's presence is also requested." To Elaine. "You'll be required there as well, Doctor. Don't know why, though."

Elaine nodded. "Thanks, Nicole."

With that, the Charlottetown native headed off. "I wonder what's up," Padre Alice mused before she frowned. "Unless it's because of what happened in the Dead Grove."

The Air Force major breathed out, "Possibly…"

"You mean with Hiromi's and Mioko's daughter?" Kasumi asked.

"Most likely," Padre Vincent stated before he gazed over at Hensō for a moment. "We have to keep an eye on her, Lynn," the chaplain then whispered.

"Already noted," the chief nurse affirmed.

With that, the two chaplains went off to a nearby table to have breakfast. Unseen by any of them, two Seishin-form Avalonians — one visibly pregnant in civilian maternity dress while the other was in naval combat dress with Canadian Army major's rank on her shoulders over the unit flash of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment) — shared a secret smile before they turned back to their own meals…

* * *

The captain's meeting room on Deck A8, after breakfast…

"_Excuse me…?_"

Brian Gamblin gazed tranquilly at his ship's chaplain. "What's the problem, Vince?"

"The _problem_?!" a now white-faced Vincent Klein croaked as he stared in stunned disbelief at his commanding officer. Present at this meeting — atop Padre Vincent's wife — were the ship's senior command staff: Executive Officer Commander David Choquette, Combat Officer Commander Philip O'Connor, Chief Engineering Officer Lieutenant Commander Wayne Andrews, Chief Naval Combat Systems Engineering Officer Lieutenant Commander Romaine Xavier, Supply Officer Lieutenant Colonel Amanda Dymond and Chief Medical Officer Lieutenant Commander Elaine Cooper. Also present was the key material witness to Padre Vincent's actions in the Dead Grove, brevet Major Uio Toma, who was currently assigned as an adviser to Rear Admiral Heather Thompkins. Captain Peter Mitchell and Lieutenant Colonel Dan Cooper — who landed his CSF-105 on _Haida_ in lieu of returning to ISFS Sethlans so he could help in the after-action review of the latest attempt by potential enemy forces to probe into Earth's sector of the solar system — were also present, invited by Gamblin to present their opinions about this situation. "My God, Brian…!"

"Padre, everyone who's heard this story has agreed with what the major recommended to the captain after it was all over," Choquette said as he waved to Toma. "You stared potential death right in the face while protecting a helpless child against enemy forces in a combat situation. Atop that, your actions brought cheer to all the tōshi in the Grove and encouraged them to defeat the enemy and bring that situation to a close. That is simply no different than what John Foote did in 1942 when he stayed behind at Dieppe and allowed himself to be captured by the Germans when the rest of the 2nd Division pulled out to return back to England."

"This is the _**Victoria Cross**_ we're talking about, David!" Padre Alice — who was just as stunned as her husband was at the fact that Gamblin was now recommending her husband for Canada's highest bravery award — then said. "Why would you think that the people at NDHQ would go along with this? This wasn't a shooting war, for God's sake."

Gamblin sighed. "Commander Choquette, quote the specific clause in the Heritage Manual when it comes to awarding the Cross these days, please," he asked.

The former commandant of the Canadian Forces Fleet School in Halifax nodded. "Aye, sir. 'The Victoria Cross shall be awarded for the most conspicuous bravery, a daring or preeminent act of valour or self-sacrifice or extreme devotion to duty, in the presence of the enemy,'" he read from the dataPADD before him. "The term 'enemy' is defined as 'a hostile armed force.' Included in that are armed mutineers, armed rebels, armed rioters and armed pirates." He waved to Toma, who had a content smile on her face. "No offence to the major here, of course, but she and her friends were involved in a case of mutiny against their government, not to mention armed piracy against ourselves and several other governments. You don't have to be in a declared shooting war to get the Cross these days, Padre."

"It's too much!" Padre Alice stated. "Do you honestly think that NDHQ will go along with this, Brian?! We haven't awarded the Cross since World War Two!"

"Which is far too long in a lot of people's eyes, Alice," Gamblin stated.

"Who did you talk to about this, sir?" Cooper asked.

"Mike Flynn, Nate Kerr…and your old friend Tom Kazanski, Dan," the captain replied, which made Mitchell perk on hearing the name of his old TOPGUN classmate. "All were in agreement to this." To his ship's chaplain. "Besides, in Toma's eyes, what you did — had you been Urusian — would have seen you awarded their Star of Aruka, the Cross' equivalent on Uru." He then smirked. "Which seems to be a tradition when it comes to enemy commanders recommending people be awarded the Cross for valiant action in the line of duty, even when it was against their own forces."

"What do you mean?" Mitchell asked.

"Before I wrote up the recommendation to send it to NDHQ, I read about the raid on Saint-Nazaire in World War Two, Captain," the veteran submariner replied. "One of the people involved in that was Sergeant Tom Durrant of 1 Commando. He manned a Lewis gun on one of the motor launches that escorted _Campbeltown_ into ramming the Normandie Dock to deny its use to the _Tirpitz_ and the other major surface units of the Kriegsmarine. His ship — a wooden boat the size of one of your PT boats like the one President Kennedy once commanded — went up against the _Jaguar_, a German _**torpedo boat**_ the size of a standard destroyer at the time. Sergeant Durrant stayed at his post — even after being fatally wounded and asked several times to stand down and surrender — right to when his boat was boarded by _Jaguar_'s crew. He passed out from the loss of blood and died of his wounds the very next day." A glance at Toma. "The _Jaguar_'s commanding officer, Captain-Lieutenant Paul, sought out the leader of the British commandos involved in that fight, Lieutenant Colonel Newman, at the prisoner of war camp in France where he was being held in after it was all over. The captain recommended that — when the war was over — the colonel put the sergeant in for an appropriate award. As did Major Toma to me concerning what you did last week, Vince."

"Brian, it's not necessary to do that," Padre Vincent stated. "I did what was required of me that night. Besides, _Haida_ and _Trinidad_ were hovering in the sky over the Grove. If Toma's brother lost control, we could have been beamed up just like that!" He snapped his fingers in emphasis. "There was no real danger to Arami at all."

The assembled officers all smiled on noting that the chaplain didn't care at all to refer to whatever danger he himself had faced from Toma's brother Samui, who had been frightened to a state of panic when _Redemption_ was shot out from under him and he was forced into the Dead Grove. That state of mind was loudly proven when — after the then-sleeping Moroboshi Arami woke up and asked what was going on — Samui panicked and moved to shoot her…only to have Toma dive into the line of fire and take the shot in her lung. "There was no way your director was going to play _that_ hand unless it was ultimately necessary, Reverend," Toma said. "That bright young strategist from Nan'yō explained this to Riu and Kiu when they finally clued into what was going on. You people were out to deliver as harsh a _**psychological**_ victory against us — especially people like Yethis, Ando and Sakimu…to say anything of that monster Ōgi! — as you could. You succeeded in that beyond your wildest dreams! Even if they'll be facing mental reprogramming once the wardens at Hichkyech'eng get their hands on them, people like Ando will _**remember**_ that they were thoroughly beaten by 'lessers.'" She sneered out that last word, the disgust in her voice at the blatant racism some of the more radical Imperials on Uru had shown over the years towards Terrans quite apparent to her hosts. "So your life _was_ threatened, as was the life of young Arami! You knew the chances were there you might have died…but you acted to protect her! Atop that, you were willing to perform your duty as a chaplain to both of us as well, even with my brother pointing a gun right at your face! I would personally say that qualifies for the 'extreme devotion to duty' clause for the Cross."

Silence fell as the chaplain of _Haida_ considered that, and then he sighed. "Brian, could you please NOT send that recommendation? Or maybe tone it down to…?"

"It was delivered to Ottawa on Friday, Vince," the captain gently cut him off. "It's already in the hands of the advisory committee for the Cross. The Director will pen her recommendation for it when summer vacation will start for her this weekend."

"Well, maybe it'll be rejected," the chaplain then mused with a reluctant nod.

"It better NOT be!" Toma snarled.

Amused chuckles escaped some of the others…

* * *

Materialiser Room Six, that moment…

"Permission to come aboard, Chief Beaulieu?"

"Permission granted, Sergeant-Major Duchesne. Welcome aboard _Haida_."

The stern-looking silver-haired, grey-eyed man built like a long-distance runner and possessing the demeanour of someone people NEVER wanted to piss off — who had just been beamed up from la Citadelle in Québec City — nodded before he stepped down, offering his hand. "Been a long time since the Chiefs' Qualification at Saint-Jean, Jacques."

"That it has, Marc," CPO1 Beaulieu said with a chuckle as he warmly shook the newcomer's hand. "How does it feel to be the first RSM of the first new _**line**_ infantry battalion since…?" He then paused. "God! How long HAS it been…?"

"Nineteen-fifty-three. I checked," Chief Warrant Officer Marc Duchesne, a Chicoutimi native who last served as regimental sergeant-major of the first battalion of le Royal 22e Régiment, stated. "Ironically, the First of the Guards was one of them."

"Damn too long!" the electrical technician mused with a shake of the head before he gave the veteran infantry soldier a close look-over. "Still look too sharp for this old sailor's eyes." He pointed to the other man's beret. "How are you adjusting to the change?"

"It's…" Here, CWO Duchesne shrugged. "What can you say?"

Beaulieu nodded. Like all infantry soldiers and officers the coxswain of _Haida_ had met over the years, Marc Duchesne was literally wed at the hip to the customs and traditions of his home regiment…which actually wasn't so different from how sailors were wed to the customs and traditions of the Canadian Navy. Unlike armoured and air cavalry soldiers and officers — the only other branches of the Army combat arms who were divided into administrative regiments with individual histories and traditions — the people who always formed the sharp edge of any ground operation stayed as a part of their home regiment from initial battle school training to final release. Even members of Militia infantry regiments tried to avoid "re-badging" at all costs; the only time it was done was when a member moved out of a particular regiment's recruiting zone due to civilian life issues. Members of le Royal 22e Régiment — the famous "Vandoos" — had even stronger reasons to adhere to their customs and traditions; as they were the only full-time infantry regiment that recruited specifically from Québec, they were bound together simply by the virtue of the native language of every soldier and officer.

Yet now, Marc Duchesne wore the crowned ten-point star of the Regiment of Canadian Guards on his green beret, not the crowned beaver-on-a-log of le Royal 22e Régiment.

"_Le Régiment des Gardes Canadiens_," the coxswain then joked.

The new RSM of the 1st Battalion of the Guards laughed. No doubt, his classmate from the Non-Commissioned Members Professional Development Centre on the campus of le Collège Militaire Royale — both had been in the initial class of the CPO1/CWO Chief Qualification held there in 2003 — in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu had seen the brass **GC** shoulder titles on his epaulettes; English-speaking personnel would wear **CG** instead. "_Oui!_" Duchesne said, and then he tensed as the door to the room swooped open.

"I apologize for being late, Chief…OH!"

Both men looked over to see a panting woman standing at the door. Dressed in CADPAT trousers and combat boots with a _Haida_ T-shirt atop that — which was now almost totally soaked with sweat, Duchesne noted with a faint nod of approval, quickly sensing she had been doing some hard exercise in the ship's gymnasium forward…though he certainly _didn't_ care to see her nipples point through the fabric — she was a girl with a Mediterranean tan, dark blue eyes and blonde hair styled in two buns over her ears. She also sported a necklace that held a green maple-leaf shaped jewel. On that jewel was the upward-pointing bayonet trade badge of an infantry soldier.

"Got a little too busy in the gym, Miss Hilshire?" Beaulieu asked.

"Henrietta wanted to do ten laps in the pool in full fighting order, Chief," the newcomer explained. "WITH full ammunition load. It slowed her down a bit."

As Duchesne gaped, Beaulieu grinned. "You won't be facing your Soldier Qualification until February, Triela!" the coxswain then scolded. "I know you girls are part of the last serial to go through Saint-Jean from here and you have Naval Environmental Training to face right after the New Year in Halifax, but there is such a thing as being TOO gung-ho this early in the game! Why are you practicing that now?!"

"Chief, as you just said, it'll be the start of _**February**_ when we do the SQ," Triela Hilshire answered. "Unless the people running the base pool at Valcartier will allow that sort of training — which I doubt since a place like that is run by civilians these days and not proper club swingers — the only chance we could to practice that will be after we cut away all the damned _**ice**_!" Her eyes twinkled in amusement. "While I hope our trainers at CISQFT will remember that sort of thing when we do the SQ or our TQ3, I doubt it would be done when all the creeks, ponds and lakes at the ranges are frozen over."

Beaulieu laughed. "You think we ought to send them off to Ranger School down in Benning before we give them a vacation at Saint-Jean, Marc?" he then asked.

Duchesne shook his head. "My God! Is this NORMAL for these girls?!"

"Henrietta was part of last night's boarding party, sir."

The veteran infantry soldier — who, atop having the black-and-gold tab marking his graduating from the United States Army's Ranger School at Fort Benning in Georgia on his left shoulder, also possessed the Special Operations Assaulter badge marking prior service in Joint Task Force Two on his left breast pocket — blinked. "What happened?"

"We found thirty of our sisters, all with their souls — which hadn't been allowed to evolve much since their removal from gestation according to the medics — clamped down by inhibitor collars. They were also denied the right to wear clothes," Triela stated with forced calm. "Henrietta didn't take it too well, sir. She needed to cool off."

He nodded in approval. "Working out the anger with physical exercise. Good approach. You can expect a lot of physical training before you head off to Saint-Jean, Miss Hilshire; I do NOT want to hear that any one of you were forced — unless it was for medical reasons — to not graduate with your platoon mates." Seeing her puff with determination to NOT do that, Duchesne nodded. "What was controlling the girls Miss Croce helped rescue?"

"An android; he was an adopted 'son' of the man who actually saw us all created that Ayami-onēsama and Tsukihana-oniisama fought at the time of the Liberation."

"Where is this thing now?" Duchesne then coldly asked. "Hopefully being prepared to serve as a substitute for a Figure 11 target, I pray."

"No, he's not worthy to sub in for Herman the German, sir," Triela responded with an equally cold smile. "We sentenced him to the tender loving care of our local mad scientist. He's now at the mercy of one Asai Mayumi, our resident ATIS tech."

He considered that for a moment before nodding. "Let me get moved in and changed. I want to see this."

Triela nodded as she reached over to pick up his duffle bag and suitcase, effortlessly carrying both out of the materialiser room. CPO1 Beaulieu and CWO Duchesne followed them, leaving behind the current quartermaster and boatswain mate of the watch. The former was Leading Seaman Allain Duclerc, a naval combat information operator on call-out from N.C.S.M. _Donnacona_ in Montréal. The latter was one of _Haida_'s plank owners, Miya Rei, a prospective boatswain who had specialized in materialiser systems operations prior to her soul being augmented with the Dragon Jade. "You think he's ready for girls like Triela?" Allain asked.

"Ranger _**and**_ JTF2?!" Rei wondered before smirking as she winked at the native of Kirkland at the west end of Île de Montréal. "They're going to _**love**_ that man!"

Allain considered that before shaking his head.

He doubted that any self-respecting Royal Canadian Infantry Corps regimental sergeant-major — whose very _raison d'être_ was traditionally seen as making life hell for grunts — would just LOATHE the idea of dealing with grunts who were even more FANATIC than he was!

"Right…!" he drawled out…

* * *

An hour later…

A knock echoed from the doorway. "Are you in, Genius?!"

A groan answered. "Someone, kill that wascally wabbit!" a voice then boomed in a horrible Elmer Fudd imitation from within a certain would-be ATIS technician's sanctum sanctorum.

Triela grinned as she keyed open the door. "Something bad?" she asked as it swooped open.

"Hey, Ella," came the reply from the groaning figure inside.

Triela walked inside, followed by Jacques Beaulieu and Marc Duchesne. The latter had dressed in CADPATs. Surprised at the detailed and well-lit interior of the classroom-sized space that occupied the port aft corner of Deck A9 right above the upper hangar deck — which was one of _Haida_'s many electronics equipment maintenance rooms — the new RSM of the Canadian Guards' 1st Battalion focused on the young lady whom Triela had just compared to Wile E. Coyote, never mind the amusing sign over the door.

Asai Mayumi — like all her sisters aboard _Haida_ — had her body shaped like a normal Terran girl of twenty years of age. She wasn't very curvy as some people might be, but she clearly was in decent physical shape; noting that, Duchesne was quick to conclude that the physical training part of the Basic Military Qualification would not be any problem for her. She projected the demeanour of a serious researcher, complete with reading bifocals over her dark brown eyes. The only off thing about her was her short-cut dark hair, which had a green sheen in the light…but given that the poor woman had been modelled after a Japanese _**video game**_ character, that was par for the course.

She also looked as if she hadn't slept for a whole day; both Duchesne and Beaulieu saw the circles under her eyes. "Didn't you rack out last night?" the coxswain asked.

"No, I didn't, Chief," Mayumi said as she waved them up towards the diagnostic bed that she had installed in the room. "Given the warning from our mysterious sister with the energy staff that gave Admiral Thompkins a nice headache, I've been busy employing every diagnostic tool I can access on this ship to scour our guest's memory banks and central processors with the proverbial fine-tooth comb."

"What did you find?" Beaulieu asked as they came up to gaze on the prone figure there.

"Other than at least _**twenty**_ inhibitor program locks that made sure he was as incapable of independent thought or creativity as his late father, not that much," Mayumi stated, which made Triela gasp. "Yes, Ella, it's true. In basic design, he's your average Type 29G Zeiwanite intimate companion android, almost just like the ones Onē-sama and her family encountered in Tomobiki back after the Liberation. The idiots that built Sunmee here — IF he was built on Phentax Two, by the way! — got it down to the very last detail. But when he was first activated and his soul was allowed to develop ten years ago, he started questioning everything." She shook her head. "Given the mentality of his father's people at the time, that was simply not kosher." She then frowned. "I don't know if I can help him recover."

"Make him one of us," Triela immediately proposed.

"I want to make sure he can operate without his soul being anchored down so badly before doing _that_ to him, Ella," Mayumi advised before sighing. "How's Etta?"

"She's cooling down after ten laps in the pool with full kit. Sergeant Roki's helping her get over it. She'll be happy to know the truth of this guy, though."

"I'll see if I can hurry it along."

"_**I**_ would want to see you asleep in your rack," Beaulieu stated. "Is there anyone on the ship you can trust with watching over this fellow as those diagnostics get done?"

Mayumi hummed as she considered that for a moment, and then she sighed. "Probably any of the weapons engineering techs, Chief," she stated before listing names, "Nakai Mami, Nakazato Kaori, Shinosaka Yuiko, Iijima Rino, Honda Tomoko, Orikura Kana, Asari Kazumi, Orikura Yayoi, Terashima Marina, Asagiri Mai, Kozama Kodachi, Mainami Yūki, Orikura Manami, Morimura Kyōko, Kasugano Miho, Tachibana Misato, Tachibana Kasumi and Tachibana Ayano. Less so the avionics techs: Aoki Chisa and Makino Izumi."

"Get two of them up here and brief them on what you've done, then go rack down," the coxswain then ordered. "In your _**quarters**_, Private Asai! Not here!"

She gave him a grin and a jaunty salute. "Aye-aye, Chief."

Beaulieu chuckled as he waved his friend and Triela out of the room. After the door was closed behind them, they made their way to the turbolift station close to the small observation bubble amidships that was set aside for the landing signals officer to monitor operations on the upper flight deck. "Are they _normally_ like this?" Duchesne asked as he gazed on his friend.

"I honestly don't know," Beaulieu answered. "Can you answer that, Triela?"

Triela smiled. "Personally, I hope so. I think that because we never experienced the horrors a lot of our older sisters lived through, we have both advantages and disadvantages." She waved to Mayumi's laboratory. "If it was one of the craftsmen or signallers from the 2nd/10th we had with us on the trip to Yaminokuni — they had electronic-optronic technicians and signals technologists in their maintenance and signals troops — they probably would have taken him down to one of the ship's dynamos and have his body cremated without hesitation. At least Mayumi was quick to recognize that he IS a sentient being — one who was badly oppressed, just like many of our older sisters were — and he deserves a chance to live his life. I just hope we don't let that desire to give people a chance hurt us in return; I know people would take advantage of that in an instant."

"That's why you need training with real teachers in real time," Duchesne then stated. "Programming knowledge right into your brain is one thing, but experience from live teachers will help you as well. Now, Guardsman Hilshire, go make sure Guardsman Croce isn't trying to kill herself preparing for the BMQ." Inwardly smirking on seeing Triela burst with pride at his addressing her with the special rank title privates in the various Household Guard regiments were addressed by — which logically shouldn't be used when she _**hadn't**_ gone through basic training, to say anything of trades training — he added, "I want to see you girls in the gymnasium before breakfast tomorrow morning for PT. Dismissed."

She straightened herself to attention. "Yes, sir! Excuse me, please."

With that, she headed off to the turbolift. Both men watched her go, and then they exchanged looks. "Way different from when we went through basic, eh, Marc?" Beaulieu asked.

"If they're _**that**_ eager to get the uniforms on, it wouldn't surprise me if they reopened Cornwallis one day soon," Duchesne stated. "I have a friend who's a company sergeant-major at Saint-Jean. By the time the first all-Avalonian platoons going through graduated on the week of Canada Day, not ONE had dropped out, even for medical reasons! Same with the courses that just finished last Friday."

Beaulieu whistled. Recruit training platoons at the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School always started with sixty, but those numbers were whittled down over the following thirteen weeks of training thanks to numerous reasons such as medical injuries, failure to pass the many written tests or voluntary release due to emotional hardship issues. This was always accepted at CFLRS; the military life was, after all, sometimes quite hard for people straight out of civilian life to adjust to…and ultimately not meant for everyone. That FOUR entire platoons of recruits — two English-speaking platoons and two French-speaking platoons — of 240 Avalonian-Canadians had passed basic training WITHOUT any loss in their numbers was just incredible. Atop that, since those first two pairs of recruit platoons had been brought to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, THIRTEEN more pairs of platoons totalling 1,560 people — the vast majority of them being Avalonian-Canadians — were now undergoing their basic training at CFLRS.

"How did the instructors there react to that?" the coxswain asked.

"Publicly, they lamented at not being able to make those girls break," the infantry battalion RSM answered, which made his friend laugh. "Privately, they were very pleased."

Beaulieu nodded. "Where to?"

"First English platoon went to Meaford. First French platoon went to Valcartier. Second English platoon went to Wainwright. All _en masse_." That meant that the trades training schools who helped prepare soldiers for service in Canada's full-time infantry regiments — the Land Forces Central Area Training Centre in Meaford on Georgian Bay in Ontario for the Royal Canadian Regiment, le Centre d'Instruction du Secteur de Québec de la Force Terrestre in Valcartier northwest of Québec City for le Royal 22e Régiment, and the Land Forces Western Area Training Centre in Wainwright in east-central Alberta for Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry — were putting those recruits through what had once been called the "Soldier Qualification," the Army environmental course, at this time; it had been recently renamed the "Basic Military Qualification (Land)" course…though most old soldiers still used the older title. "Everyone in the second French platoon were merciful; they went to Gagetown to learn how to be combat engineers." The Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering — the primary training establishment for the Dominion's corps of sappers — was in Gagetown on the western shore of the Saint John River near Fredericton. Since the second French platoon that just graduated from CFLRS all wanted to be combat engineers, they could do the SQ/BMQ(L) at the Land Forces Atlantic Area Training Centre, which was also located at Gagetown.

Beaulieu laughed. "Keeping it balanced, eh?"

Duchesne smirked. "The Fleet Schools will start to experience their share of the pain in four weeks; that's when the first Navy recruits get out of Saint-Jean."

Both experienced servicemen laughed…

* * *

Lunchtime…

"Hello, Hensō."

Hensō perked on hearing that friendly voice, and then she turned before she smiled. "Hello, Kasumi," she said before waving Kasumi to join her. "How soon will you go down to Hamilton to do your English test?"

"Doctor Gossip's arranging for it right now," the older woman answered. "I also have to speak to the people at the International Student Services office at McMaster to arrange my study visa. Hopefully, I won't have to travel back to Japan or go elsewhere to apply for that; they do allow on-line applications…"

The Oni-form Avalonian shuddered in amusement, grinning. "Bureaucracy is no different no matter which planet you go to," she commented before sipping her spice tea.

"How was it like for you coming here for the first time?"

Hensō sighed. "Well, the Men In Black went out of their way to make sure they kept track of me when I announced that Darling and I were married and I was going to live on Earth. That was accepted; no matter what we had to say and do to get the Tag Race done so Earth would stay free, everyone in the Federation respects what Chief Zed and his friends do for your people." At Kasumi's nod, Hensō smiled. "I was given a temporary visitor's visa at first; just a ninety-day thing. When they granted me a year-long resident visa, I had to go back into space to fill out the application; that was the time I made a UFO catcher doll in my image for Darling to possess." She frowned. "I put a microphone in the doll so I could overhear what Darling said. I was so desperate to hear him admit that he loved me, I…" She shook her head.

"Why?"

Lum's sister blinked, and then she sighed. "Well, mostly it was because I had been engaged to Seq Rei before the Tag Race. He was someone Damasu — and Ran-chan before we were created — was very much in love with. I…" She paused before shaking her head again. "I didn't want it. Yes, he was attractive…but he was enslaved totally to his stomach. I'm sure you've heard all the horror stories about a tiger-striped cow-like monster going into restaurants in Tomobiki and eating every scrap of food there."

Kasumi hummed as one of the older stewards came up with lunch trays. Both girls nodded their thanks before he headed off, and then the older woman sighed. "I did see him once," she admitted. "I was visiting the small market by Hōya Station — that's on the border between Nerima and Nishitōkyō — one day in November when this rather large creature came storming towards it. Tiger-striped and looking like a very large cow, you said?"

A nod in confirmation. "That's Rei."

"Well, he reached the place where the border actually was just before the entrance into the market…and then he stopped. Looked confused and lost for a moment…and then he turned around and ran back towards downtown Tomobiki. It was odd…though I think all the kiosk owners were quite relieved that none of their wares were taken. After all, they knew what sort of glutton that fellow was like."

"If you wish to know, it was a magical compulsion field."

Both women tensed on hearing that tonally-flat voice, and then they turned to gaze on a familiar figure in a black martial arts gi standing nearby. "Miss Negako," Hensō greeted as she recalled that Heather Thompkins had told Elaine Cooper to contact the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū about bringing up the Dragon Jade to augment the souls of the thirty Terran-form Avalonians rescued the previous night.

"There was a compulsion field around Tomobiki?" Kasumi asked, waving to a free chair.

"Yes," the ninjutsu grandmaster affirmed as she sat. "This was implemented by personnel of the Kantō Magical Association at the order of His Majesty after that matter with the space-taxi Satoshi and his friends summoned to Earth." As Hensō's cheeks reddened on remembering what else happened that day, Negako lightly smiled. "You need not be concerned about the environmental impact his co-workers' actions unleashed when they sought to extract the usage fees from the planet's natural oil supplies, Hensō. There was minimal environmental damage outside Tomobiki. That was courtesy of James Edwards of the Special Committee. He devised an interesting solution to that dilemma."

Hensō perked as she recalled the handsome African-American agent of the Men In Black, a former New York detective with years of street experience. "What did Jay do?"

"He send out a broadcast signal on the operating frequency of the Galactic Space-Taxi Company, warning that Relota Ugadese was on Earth at that time and that her clothes and body had been soiled when one of the vehicles drew up oil from a well in Texas," Negako stated. "Of course, Relota was identified by her battle name 'Infinity.'"

Hensō blanched on hearing that particular monicker, realizing that the man known as "Agent Jay" had used the bone-chilling fear most sentients in the local cluster felt concerning the metahuman residents of a certain planet beyond Ellsian space to make the co-workers of that space-taxi driver stop trying to steal the oil of Earth. "So how…?"

"Once you had paid the driver with some of your bio-electricity, Zachariah convinced the president of the Galactic Space-Taxi Company to restore the stolen oil back to Earth in the exact state it had been," Negako stated. "Save for the driver who had been 'bilked' of his fare, that was done; this is the reason Tomobiki had to endure a 'rain of oil' right afterwards." She sat back in her chair. "I must confess, that exercise did cull considerable levels of anti-ki which I saw placed under the Tarōzakura Hill at Shūtarō's estate."

"Which you later used to destroy those Niphentaxians who came in February to take Earth hostage because Ataru had been quite mean to Hensō," Kasumi noted as she moved to assuage any sort of hurt feelings Hensō might have concerning being manipulated by the then-bodiless Negako into helping her be free to live her own life…which, hadn't the Avalonian solution presented itself months later, might have cost Ataru his life as well as see Hensō either killed or driven off Earth in heartbreak.

"Indeed."

The would-be university student then hummed. "Why did they wait so long? That whole thing in Onishuto happened near the end of December."

"When Ōgi learned that Darling divorced me, he immediately threatened to invade Earth to bring him to heel," Hensō said as disgust crept into her voice. "Hypocrite! He hated the idea of my being married to Darling in the first place, so he should have jumped for joy at the idea of Darling leaving me once and for all. That was the time the Church began preaching Darling was the 'Great Evil' instead of a 'sinful doubter' like they rated Shinobu and Damasu."

"You were publicly humiliated, Hensō. No passionate follower of any religion — even one as emotionally hollow as what Ōgi promulgated — would EVER enjoy the idea of seeing their living goddess figure brought to heel like that…especially by the man your 'followers' viewed as a devil-figure." Negako nodded as Seina came up with a cup of spiced ginseng tea. "Atop that, the truth of your existence was exposed by Kyech with Nengmek'i's assistance. Even if Invader and his friends found that revelation impossible to accept, many of the wedding guests DID accept the truth and began spreading that across the local cluster. If Ōgi was to maintain the structure of his society — a slaveocracy no different than the leaders of the Confederate States of America tried to preserve before the Civil War — he could not allow any widespread revelation of the Avalonians." She smirked. "In that, he was clearly assisted by various governments within the Galactic Federation. There was no way that a secret of THAT nature could be kept secret from outside observation even if Phentax Twelve was a 'closed' colony to aliens."

"So what actually provoked that attack on Tomobiki in February?" Kasumi asked.

"A public announcement was made by a friend of Kyech's named Kaep'; her proper name is Seu-Ch'ek Yech'a-Mung Hechnich'-Nakkyek of Ait'uch-Nehech. She currently serves as the Imperial Chancellor of the Outmarches; the territory of the Imperial Outmarches directly borders this solar system. That announcement stated that a protectorate would be extended over Earth by Noukiios; the Noukiites name such an operation an 'Imperial Commandery' and it is governed by a military high warlord — the equivalent of a lieutenant general, vice admiral or air marshal in any Terran military service — in lieu of a civilian-trained governor," Negako stated. "With that came a warning that as far as the Tag Race Treaty between Earth and Uru that came into effect the previous summer was concerned, the clauses of Paragraph Ten — which gave Ataru the undisputed right to declare any Urusian _persona non grata_ if he felt that person constituted any sort of physical or psychological threat to Earth — would be considered in full effect for all citizens of Uru and her colony worlds for the next two centuries Earth-time. That was three days prior to the attack on Phentax Twelve."

Negako sipped her tea. "Forces under Kaep's control were monitoring Earth while the forces under Kyech's command rendezvoused with the Yehisrite forces under Varanko's command to attack Phentax Twelve," she continued, noting that all noise in the wardroom had stopped as everyone there listened to the story about how the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū and the Dragonspeaker of Noukiios had teamed together to protect Earth. "When Kaep's forces detected the attacking squadron, they moved in to surround them. A message was sent out immediately to Kyech. She informed me of what was happening. I realized this situation would provide the perfect opportunity to dispose of the node of anti-ki under the Tarōzakura I had collected through Ataru over the previous decade, then informed her of same. An ice dragon acquaintance of Kyech's, Kep'kat'-k'ap', teleported us to Earth. Once I was able to link into the mana node, I discovered the presence of the annihilation bomb in the Tomobiki Ginza." As everyone scowled — the revelation of that bomb's presence had turned a lot of public attitudes towards aliens, even in Tomobiki, sour — Negako continued, "Kep'kat'-k'ap' removed the bomb and its triggering mechanisms, teleporting it into space. She removed the Avalonians aboard the Niphentaxian ships, having them evacuated to one of my clan's properties on Sado Island. With Kyech augmenting such using her own power, I triggered a ki blast using the Earth-Heart Fire-Geyser, focusing that on the annihilation bomb, which Kep'kat'-k'ap' placed in the middle of the formation. The resultant explosion destroyed most of the fleet and crippled the remainder of them…not that they could try to escape given the removal of their slave artisans from those ships. That allowed the forces from Tengsei to board and capture the survivors."

"At the same time, the Imperial Marines stormed down to take out all the other observers that had been inserted all over the planet," Jessica Miller finished.

"Quite correct, Jessica." Negako's eyebrow then arched. "You have a question, David."

Eyes locked on David Choquette. The executive officer — who, while having been briefed on Moroboshi Hiromi's adopted elder sister, hadn't interacted with Negako before now — blinked before he sipped his coffee. "Didn't that bother you, ma'am?"

"Elaborate."

"Using a weapon of mass destruction like that?"

Negako gazed tranquilly at him. "It would disturb anyone, David." Her eyes focused on a man in the uniform of an officer of the United States Air Force, a major's gold leaves on his shoulder straps. "Steven, you are a qualified strategic bomber pilot on both the Boeing B-52H Stratofortress and the Northrop Grumman B-2A Spirit, correct?"

Major Steve Dandridge, a twelve-year veteran of his home service, was the operational liaison officer to _Haida_ from the headquarters of the North American Aerospace Defence Command/United States Northern Command in Colorado Springs; it was planned to have him also be dual-hatted as part of the J3 operations staff being constituted now to serve under Heather Thompkins. "I am indeed, Madame Moroboshi," the native of Dallas stated, his soft Texas twang echoing in every word he spoke.

"You served with the 509th Bomb Wing, correct?"

He nodded. "I had that honour, ma'am."

"Before his death in 2007, did you meet Paul Tibbets?"

A reluctant nod this time; the major was aware that a native of Japan was present in the room. "I did meet the general in 2003; this was just after I qualified on the Spirit and flown bombing missions for Operation: Enduring Freedom."

"Did you ask him about his leading Special Mission 13?"

He wryly chuckled. "I did ask him." Here, Steve sighed. "The day he flew that mission, he was just damned relieved it had gone off without a hitch. Back then, no one understood the potential after-effects of a nuclear strike on the people who survived the initial blast." He bowed his eyes. "Atop that, the warriors of Japan at the time had been — well, the best way to say it would be 'programmed' — into believing there were only two options in fighting a war: Victory or death." He gave Kasumi a sympathetic look. "I will say this: No sane person that fights for his or her people — and yes, General Tibbets felt that way, too — would _**ever**_ wish to use such a weapon operationally, especially if non-combatants are in range of the target point." To Negako. "The crews on those ships you and the Lady K'ekhech wrecked — once your dragon friend cleared out the Avalonians on those ships — were all soldiers, right?"

"That is correct."

"Then you did the right thing, ma'am. If that anti-matter bomb had been detonated in the middle of Tomobiki, it would have left Japan uninhabitable and unleashed nuclear winter all over Earth." He shook his head. "Nine thousand soldiers dying in airless space…versus who knows how many MILLIONS of _**civilians**_ dying in the initial blast, plus all the MILLIONS of radiation poisoning cases and other follow-on casualties. In my eyes — hell, in _**anyone's**_ eyes! — there was no choice at all."

"Indeed."

Eyes locked on Kasumi. Sensing the surprise many of her hosts now felt on her agreeing to that, the would-be medical student sighed. "What happened at Hiroshima and Nagasaki has never been really debated in public discourse; that sort of thing — even for something as horrible as that — is not really done in my society. But I will say — speaking from the civilian viewpoint — that given what was revealed in February, the commissioning of _Yamato_ into the Self-Defence Forces received full public support. Even from those who would disapprove of her because she is both battleship and aircraft carrier, which are types of vessels that are forbidden under Article Nine of our constitution. All we can hope…is that such never happens again."

"Hear, hear!" the executive officer stated as he hoisted his coffee cup.

The others in the room did the same in a silent toast. As people turned back to their meals, Negako gazed on Hensō, quickly sensing a swell of frustration building deep inside her. "You cannot change the past, Hensō," the grandmaster quietly stated. "What you can do is work to help make a better future." With that, she rose to leave.

Lum's twin watched her go…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Her Majesty's Canadian Ship _York_ is Toronto's resident Naval Reserve Division. The unit was first established as a half-company in 1923 and commissioned under her current name in 1942. Navire Canadien de Sa Majesté _Donnacona_ is Montréal's resident NRD. Like _York_, she was first established as a half-company in 1923…but was broken into two parts in 1939, H.M.C.S. _Montréal_ for English-speakers and N.C.S.M. _Cartier_ for French-speakers. The units were merged back into one ship in 1941 and re-commissioned as _Donnacona_ two years later to free up the name "Montréal" for an actual warship.

2) Canadian Forces trade notes:

At the time of this story, personnel serving as **Marine Engineering Mechanics** (**MAR ENG MECH**) form the journeyman level of a three-tier system whose members operate and monitor the operation of a warship's mechanical equipment. They inspect, test, maintain, repair, modify and install equipment associated with the on-board mechanical systems. Upon reaching the rank of **Leading Seaman** (**LS**) (NATO rank code OR-4) and are seen as having earned their TQ5 trade qualifications, MAR ENG MECHs remuster (switch trades) automatically into **Marine Engineering Technicians** (**MAR ENG TECH**), forming the mid-level technical elements of the modern stoker trade. On reaching **Petty Officer 2nd Class** (**PO2**) (NATO rank code OR-6) and qualifying at the TQ6A level, MAR ENG TECHs remuster automatically into **Marine Engineering Artificers** (**MAR ENG ART**), the senior supervisors of any ship's propulsion engineering department. Per Navy tradition, the senior member of this trade is referred to as the **Chief Engine Room Artificer** (**CERA**) and normally ranks equal to the Coxswain of a Canadian warship. As of February 2012, the three separate trades of MAR ENG MECH, MAR ENG TECH and MAR ENG ART were united together as a single trade of **Marine Engineer** (**MAR ENG**)…though the older trade titles of "Mechanic," "Technician" and "Artificer" are maintained as "sub-trades" to identify a tradesman's level of technical expertise.

Members of the **Fire Fighter** (**FIRE FTR**) trade prevent the loss of life or property due to fire. They perform a variety of tasks including aircraft rescue, structural, wild land and shipboard fire fighting, automobile extrication, hazardous material and confined space/high-angle rescue. Fire investigation, fire prevention and life safety inspection are also areas of expertise. Primarily employed at Air Force bases across Canada, fire fighters are also employed full time aboard Navy ships; unlike other elements of the Air Operations Branch of the Forces, members of this trade actually form part of the ship's company and not part of a detachment from an Air Force squadron which is tasked to provide aircraft attached to a warship for operational deployments.

**Infantry Soldiers** (**INF SDR**) serve as the Army's primary combat fighters. They are responsible for closing with and engaging the enemy. They are the core members of the Combat Arms team. They are capable of operating anywhere: Arctic tundra, mountains, jungle or desert…and in the universe of this story, other planets with all their various environments. The standard infantry soldier in the Canadian Army serves as either **mechanized infantry** (travelling to the scene via armoured vehicles) or **light infantry** (travelling to the scene via "black Cadillacs"…in other words, on foot). However, infantry soldiers can also serve as **airborne infantry** (jumping out of aircraft and descending via parachute to the scene), **air assault infantry** (travelling via helicopter or VTOL aircraft to the scene) or **amphibious infantry** (travelling via ship to the scene). Basically, wherever the Army goes, infantry soldiers are always at the head of the pack…as note the motto of the **Royal Canadian Infantry Corps** (**RCIC**), _Ducimus_ ("We Lead").

**Electronic-Optronic Technicians (Land)** (**EO TECH L**) are personnel who are responsible for the maintenance, repair and modification of fire control systems to ensure the accurate delivery of ammunition to the intended target.

The term "signal technologist" used by Triela here represents personnel who serve as **Army Communication and Information Systems Specialists** (**ACISS**). These personnel provide fast, reliable wired and wireless communication and information systems using leading edge voice and data systems. They are also part of a larger team that provides Army units and the Canadian Forces with communication and information services throughout Canada and around the world.

3) Translations: **CADPAT** — Canadian Disruptive Pattern, the digitally-designed camouflage system used on combat uniforms in the Canadian Armed Forces, which comes in three styles: Temperate Woodland (TW), Arid Region (AR) and Winter Arctic (WA) (the TW pattern is seen as the standard garrison work uniform in the Canadian Army and Air Force); **Huldufólk** — Literally "hidden folk," this term normally represents the supernatural spirits natives of Iceland strongly believe in…and in the context of the universe of this story, officially serves as a catch-all term for all magical beings native to that island; **Íslenska** — Icelandic language, which is directly descent from the language of the Vikings; **Giri** — A social value roughly corresponding to "duty," "obligation," or even "burden of obligation" (and more properly defined as "to serve one's superiors with a self-sacrificing devotion"); **Zipperheads** — Nickname for members of the **Royal Canadian Armoured Corps**, derived from the old flight suit-like jumpsuits tankers wore when in their machines; **Camel Jockeys** — Nickname for members of the **Royal Canadian Corps of Air Cavalry** from the name of their World War Two-era tactical fighter, the Sopwith Canada So-48 Camel II; **Gunners** — Self-explanatory nickname for members of the **Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery**; **Sappers** — Nickname for members of the **Canadian Military Engineers**, which is derived from "sapping" (the term used to describe siege operations where personnel dig tunnels under enemy walls and fortifications); **Jimmies** — Nickname for personnel who serve in the **Communications and Electronics Branch** of the Canadian Forces, derived from the "jimmy" (the image of the Roman god Mercury) on their hat badge; **RSM** — Regimental Sergeant-Major, the senior non-commissioned member of an Army unit of battalion size; **Land of Oz** — Derisive nickname for **National Defence Headquarters** (**NDHQ**) in Ottawa; **Club Swingers** — Nickname for military physical training instructors in the Navy; **Raison d'Être** — Reason for being; **PT** — Physical Training; **En Masse** — In mass; **Persona non Grata** — Literally "an unwelcome person"; **Kep'kat'-k'ap'** — Ice Fire.

4) The **boatswain's call** (short-title **bos'n call**) is a pipe or metal whistle without a diaphragm which is used on naval ships by a boatswain. The purpose of this device is to produce a very sharp noise to catch the attention of all members of the ship's company. The boatswain's call consists of a narrow tube (the **gun**) which directs air over a metal sphere (the **buoy**) with a hole in the top. The player opens and closes the hand over the hole to change the pitch. The rest of the boatswain's call consists of a **keel** (a flat piece of metal beneath the gun that holds the call together) and the **shackle** (a keyring that connects a long silver or brass chain that sits around the collar when the person with the call is worn with the ceremonial uniform). The individual **pipes** made with a boatswain's call vary according to purpose and time of day. For an idea as to what the pipe that woke Kasumi up is like, visit the Ready Aye Ready website devoted to the history, customs and traditions of the Royal Canadian Navy and click on the link for "Navy Life" to find the page for boatswain's call pipes.

5) The Bugs Bunny **Merrie Melodies** cartoon _Hair-Raising Hare_ was directed by the famous **Chuck Jones** (1912-2002) and written by **Ted Pierce** (1906-72); it first appeared in theatres on 25 May 1946. This was the first cartoon short where the famous red-furred tooth-shaped monster in running shoes known later as **Gossamer** made its appearance; it was during this film that Bugs did a very good imitation of a manicurist and does Gossamer's nails…before the fingers get nearly wrecked thanks to a hidden pair of mouse traps! The scientist that controlled Gossamer in this film — who was based in a castle high atop a hill near Bugs' burrow with a neon sign flashing **EVIL SCIENTIST!** — was modelled after Austrian-born actor **Peter Lorre** (1904-64). This film is also quite popular to technosexualists; the scientist, in hopes of luring Bugs into the castle so Gossamer can eat, uses a mechanical lady rabbit to attract Bugs' attention…though Bugs would simply overpower the poor "girl" by too many kisses. She would eventually get him back at the end of the film by stilt-walking up to him and kissing Bugs on the cheek!

6) **Lynn Annette Kennison** — whom I give the call-sign "**Psimold**" — was a character I first devised in the mid-1980s when I created a modern-era version of the War Hawks I eventually came to call the **Heroes Alliance of Canada**; in essence, they would be the Canadian version of the Justice League of America in the DC universe or the Avengers in the Marvel universe. She would be both empathic and a telekinetic; her twin sister **Maria Christina Kennison** (also known as "**Telepath**") would be the most powerful such psychic on her Earth and an equal of sorts to Charles Xavier of the X-Men. Maria actually made an appearance in my _The Emperor's Army_ storyline at the Anime Add-venture. In the universe of this story — where no "specialized warfare regiment" as proposed by Dean Raeburn had been created post-World War Two (as Elaine Cooper mentioned to Kasumi in the previous part) — Lynn pursued a nursing career as a part of the Canadian Forces Medical Services while Maria would become an intelligence officer.

7) In the standard ceremonial tradition of the Canadian Army, all personnel who wear the rifle green uniform have the right to wear branch or regimental titles on their shoulders. On the dress uniform, such titles are done in brass letters. When wearing CADPATs or on the epaulette slip-ons for dress shirts or duty sweaters, such titles are always done in knit thread. The term **CHAPLAIN** as Alice Klein wears on her CADPATs is the standard English-language shoulder flash title for those of her service. Members of the Canadian Air Force in support trades do the same thing while members of the Navy use the basic **CANADA** national shoulder title on the slip-ons…though squadron titles are also permitted with work uniforms in the Air Force and — in the universe of this story — _Haida_ now possesses her own ship's shoulder flash.

As an aside, the **Canadian Forces Chaplain School and Centre** (**CFChSC**) is the main training location for all those seeking to serve as military chaplains in the Canadian Forces. Like other officers, **Chaplains** (**CHAP**) attend the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu to undergo the Basic Military Officer's Qualification on entry into service before they go to Borden. Unlike other officers, chaplains are seen as non-combatants per the various clauses of the Geneva Conventions, so they do not perform any leadership functions within their unit of assignment. Like their American counterparts, Canadian chaplains bear the standard rank insignia and can be promoted dependant on time in service. Chaplains in the Canadian Forces **_must_** be ordained or mandated by a nationally registered faith group and have a Masters of Divinity degree preparing for ministry (or equivalent educational degree). As part of the application, a chaplain candidate must provide proof of support from a local ecclesiastical authority. They must also receive support from a representative of the **Interfaith Committee on Canadian Military Chaplaincy** (**ICCMC**), the endorsement of the ICCMC and be selected by the **Chaplain General**, the senior member of the branch in the Canadian Forces (who is always ranked as a commodore or brigadier general). The ICCMC expects applicants to have at least two years' supervised experience in a civilian ministry before joining the military.

8) I was reminded of the actual events surrounding **Operation: Chariot** — the mission to destroy the Normandie Dock at **Saint-Nazaire** in France on 28 March 1942 — thanks to a BBC special hosted by _Top Gear_'s leading presenter **Jeremy Clarkson** called _The Greatest Raid of All_, which was first released in 2007.

9) **Le Royal 22e Régiment** (**R22eR**) — known popularly as the "**Vandoos**," an English corruption of the French ordinal number _vingt-deuxième_ ("twenty-second") — is, as noted above, Canada's French-speaking Regular Force infantry regiment. Traditionally based at **la Citadelle** near the Plains of Abraham a half-kilometre south of downtown Québec City, the Vandoos were first formed in 1914 as the 22nd (Canadien-Français) Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Unlike all the other numbered CEF battalions that served in World War One — the **Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry** (**PPCLI**) from Western Canada, which had been formed for overseas service the same year as the 22nd, was never given an ordinal number — the 22nd was allowed to be **perpetuated** (continued) as a standing infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. The modern regiment was first established on 1 April 1920 as the "22nd Regiment," was granted the "Royal" prefix title the next year and was allowed to switch to its modern French title in 1928. Since that time, the Vandoos have served in World War Two, Korea, on peacekeeping missions all over the world during the Cold War, in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s and in Afghanistan during the first decade of the Twenty-first Century.

Today, the Vandoos are split into three Regular Force and two Militia battalions, making it the largest regiment in Canada. The **1re Bataillon** (**1re R22eR**) is based at la Citadelle while **2e Bataillon** (**2e R22eR**) and **3e Bataillon** (**3e R22eR**) are based at **Base des Forces Canadiennes Valcartier** (**BFC Valcartier**) northwest of Québec City. All three battalions form the main infantry fighting elements of **5e Groupe-Brigade Mécanisé du Canada** (**5e GBMC**) (literally "5 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group"), the Army's French-language fighting formation. The two Militia battalions — **4e Bataillon** (**4e R22eR**) at Châteauguay southwest of Montréal and **6e Bataillon** (**6e R22eR**) at Saint-Hyacinthe east of Montréal and northeast of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu — form part of **34e Groupe-Brigade du Canada** (**34e GBC**) (literally "34 Canadian Brigade Group"), the Militia formation concentrated in and around Québec's largest city.

10) **Le Collège Militaire Royale** (**CMR**) — which is located on the banks of the Rivière Richelieu in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu two kilometres east of the campus of the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School — was originally the French-language version of the **Royal Military College** (**RMC**) of Canada in Kingston, Ontario. First established in 1952 for French-language officer candidates, CMR was closed down in 1995 due to budget cuts…but was reopened in 2007. Cadets who attend this school these days stay there for a two year college diploma whose credits could be transferred to RMC or any other university for the eventual awarding of an undergraduate degree; this differs from the pre-1995 CMR, where full university undergraduate degrees were awarded by the college.

As an aside, the **Non-Commissioned Members Professional Development Centre** (**NCMPDC**) — first established in 2003 — located at the campus of CMR is in charge of all intermediate, advanced and senior-level leadership courses for non-commissioned members of the Canadian Forces. The NCMPDC — like CMR and RMC — is a branch of the **Canadian Forces College** (**CFC**), which is headquartered in Kingston.

11) **Triela Hilshire** is based on one of the child cyborg characters from the _Gunslinger Girl_ manga that first appeared in 2002…though she, like the others of _Haida_'s plank owners, was moulded as a woman of twenty in lieu of the near-teenager her template was in the manga. Because she was moulded as a personal bodyguard-type — "lethal piece of eye-candy" as some have described her — her electing to become an infantry soldier was expected even before the Dragon Jade made her truly alive. Her family name was taken from her namesake's _fratello_ ("sibling"), **Victor Hilshire**; this is also true for the vast majority of the girls fashioned after the _GG_ characters. Like her template, Triela is something of a tomboy at heart. She also serves as the den mother to the other prospective infantry soldiers on _Haida_.

12) **Figure 11 NATO standard targets** are vertically-stretched octagonal-shaped targets displaying a black-and-white image of a charging infantry soldier running towards the shooter. This sort of target is used both in military and law enforcement training. Due to the fierce look of the soldier in the picture, the target type eventually earned the nickname "**Herman the German**" in the Canadian Army.

13) In my stories, I locate the town of **Tomobiki** within the city of **Nishitōkyō** west of Nerima. Before Nishitōkyō came into being in 2001, the area of the modern city was composed of two smaller cities named **Hōya** and **Tanashi**. Tomobiki is set inside the old town limits of Hōya.

14) The **Tarōzakura** — and the mana node under it which would eventually produce the entity calling itself the **Memory of Tomobiki** — appeared in the fourth _Yatsura_ movie, _Lum the Forever_.

15) The **509th Bomb Wing** (**509 BW**) is a strategic bomber formation assigned to the **Eighth Air Force** (**8 AF**), currently based at **Whiteman Air Force Base** 110 kilometres east-southeast of Kansas City in Missouri. This formation was first established in 1944 as the "509th Composite Group" — directly perpetuated by the operations group element of 509 BW — which was tasked to help in the delivery of nuclear weapons against the enemy. The 509th Composite Group's commander at the time of the raid on Hiroshima — code-named **Special Mission 13** — on 6 August 1945 was then-Colonel **Paul Tibbets** (1915-2007), who flew a modified Boeing B-29 Superfortress called _Enola Gay_ in honour of Tibbets' mother. The attack on Nagasaki — **Special Mission 16** — on 9 August 1945 was flown by the _Bockscar_ commanded by then-Major **Charles Sweeney** (1919-2004). Tibbets would remain in the Air Force until retiring in 1966 as a brigadier general. Sweeney served until 1976, retiring as a major general. As noted in this part, the squadrons of 509 BW fly the **Northrop Grumman B-2A Spirit** stealth bomber, normally launching combat sorties from Whiteman AFB anywhere else around the world (with tanker aircraft support, of course).


	3. Plague Boats

After lunch was over, a call came to _Haida_ from Doctor Stan Gossip's office at St. Joseph's Hospital in downtown Hamilton. That contained the message that Kasumi had been scheduled to undergo an IELTS test for academic studies at Niagara College in Welland as coordinated by Conestoga College in Kitchener on Friday 16 July 2010; unfortunately, similar tests that could be held at Mohawk College in Hamilton were booked solid for the rest of summer. Kasumi had filled out her IELTS application while she had been aboard _Haida_ after Elaine Cooper's old classmate vowed to personally recommend her for studies at McMaster, having that sent off with copies of her identification just as the Canadian starship stopped over Niagara Falls to allow the personnel of the 2nd/10th Dragoons to finally disembark the previous Thursday. While she had never had use for such a thing before — and would have probably been chained to the Tendō home by her father had Sōun learned of her desire to travel abroad, thus removing her from his control…and ultimately forcing him to eat Akane's cooking, which was then seen as a fate worse than death — she possessed a passport; her late mother's lawyer arranged for her to obtain one for her eighteenth birthday. While it was quite gratifying to see government bureaucracy work at a timely clip for a change, it still surprised her that she had been allowed to perform her IELTS test so quickly.

When she had been asked about it in Sick Bay — where Kasumi had come to volunteer her services to help get things there set up — Elaine shrugged before she winked at the younger woman. "You're seen as an Avalonian, Kasumi. Given how many of us are being welcomed into the workforce, it's necessary to push things through as quickly as possible. No doubt, we have sisters working for the IELTS staff at Conestoga."

"I don't want to be seen as cheating my way into a space at McMaster, Elaine!"

"Who says you're cheating?!" Narumi — who had slept through most of the forenoon watch due to her being up so late helping out with her newly-liberated sisters — wondered. "You filled out the form, got Helena to take your pictures, had copies of your passport sent down and paid your fees with Nabiki's help. Everything was done by the book!"

"Will it be a problem when she applies for her student visa?" Narumi's sister would-be medical technician, Wakabayashi Ayu, wondered from nearby.

"No," Elaine answered with a shake of the head. "Things can all be done on-line, so there's no need to ask Kasumi to go back to Japan to apply for her visa there." She then smirked. "Even if the materialisers make travel a lot faster these days."

Everyone laughed…and then they tensed as the main doors swooped open to reveal Moroboshi Negako. "Negako-sama!" Narumi called out.

A nod in greetings. "Are they prepared, Elaine?" the ninjutsu grandmaster asked.

The doctor smiled. "Right this way," she then bade.

Everyone headed into the recovery room off to one side of the main surgery suite. There, on all the diagnostic beds, were a small group of people in plain Navy black work coveralls, their eyes closed as they slept. On being close to these thirty women, Kasumi tried not to frown too much; she could sense the empathic _hollowness_ deep in each of their souls. And while the news of what Asai Mayumi had just discovered concerning Sunmee dai-Kohl had certainly made things far more understandable for all the people aboard _Haida_ at this time, that these poor girls had been chained down in body and soul for so long still made stomachs roll and hearts ache.

Immediately, Negako moved to examine the first of the group, a very shapely woman with lavender-shaded hair cropped off at the shoulders. Tapping several points on her head as she examined the sleeping woman's ki pathways, the ninjutsu grandmaster nodded. "As all of you were when Tsukihana and Ayami rescued you from Sunmee's father," she stated as she gazed on Narumi and Ayu, and then she placed a golden spheroid crystal she had carried in her tunic pocket on top of the girl's forehead before concentrating.

Everyone watched as the girl seemed to stiffen for a second — as if she just had her heart restated thanks to a defibrillator — and then a pair of deep amethyst eyes opened up to look around. "Where…?" she rasped out in a dry voice as sparkles of light appeared around her left ear, then morphing into a green maple leaf-shaped magatama — without any sort of trade badge, Kasumi noted — to hang off her lower lobe.

"Remain quiet, Manami," Negako instructed, which made the woman gaze wide-eyed at her for a moment. "You just had your soul augmented with one of the souls within the Lóngyù." She shifted the Dragon Jade into the other woman's field of vision in emphasis. "You will require time to adjust to your present set of circumstances."

The other woman blinked in confusion before slowly nodding. "Where am I?"

"Aboard Her Majesty's Canadian Starship _Haida_, a Type One aircraft-carrying hyperspace-capable space battleship constructed by the two people who rescued your sisters from the control of your late master at the time the Avalonians were liberated."

Hearing _that_ made the other woman pale. "Where…?!" she gasped as she bolted up…and then she stopped as two sets of hands gripped her arms. "Hey!" she cried out before her eyes focused on one of the people holding her down. "Narumi…?"

A nod in greetings answered her. "It's alright, Manami," Narumi calmly reassured the other woman. "None of us have been hurt. We've been treated quite nicely since we came here in February."

"It's a pity we didn't know about you and the others," Ayu added, which made Manami gaze on the raven-haired tomboy with the blue eyes. Around them, people were quick to sense the relief the just-woken girl now felt on finding her sisters safe and sound. "If we did, we would have come after you to bring you here to Earth."

Hoshino Manami — as Negako recognized right away, she was modelled after one of the eight characters from the adult dating simulation game _Girl Friends_, first released in 1999 — blinked for a moment, and then she relaxed herself before blinking again as Negako shifted her back onto the bed. "Now, I wish you to relax and allow your soul to fully absorb what it has taken in from the Lóngyù while I awaken your sisters," Negako stated. "Once you are all ready to be briefed on your situation, that will be done."

With that, she shifted to the next bed…

* * *

Within a half-hour, twenty-nine other women were awake and relaxing in Main Cafeteria #2 as one of _Haida_'s would-be cooks, Kamioka Chisato, wheeled in a serving tray full of tall milkshakes topped with ice cream and cherries; even if the just-rescued Avalonians had been physically alive for several months, a freshly-made fruit milkshake had come to be seen these days as the traditional first meal for just-woken bioroids. Once they were served, people relaxed. "We never knew about any of this," Manami — who had been elected the spokesperson for her group — confessed. "Our owner was one of the main food suppliers to the Army of Lum, so he had been given the right to sponsor the commissioning of a new destroyer before he went to Zeiwan when all of you were created. Sunmee and we were taking it out for trials when the first distress messages from the fleet came in announcing the attack on Phentax Twelve. By the time we could get in range to see what was going on, the fleet was wrecked and Phentax Twelve was gone."

"What did Sunmee decide to do then?" Kasumi asked; she and Narumi had escorted the new girls down to the cafeteria for their first meal aboard _Haida_.

"Really, not that much," a smirking Manami confessed as a touch of envy surged through her heart on sensing how close Narumi and Kasumi were. "I take it Mayumi's already discovered all the wonderful problems with his programming."

"She did," Narumi affirmed with a nod. "She's asleep in her quarters right now; Honda Tomoko and Shinosaka Yuiko are keeping an eye on him now as the cleansing protocols are pushed through his central processors." A frown then crossed her face. "Mayumi doesn't give him much hope, though. Unlike us — since our wetware can repair itself immediately from any sort of hard damage thanks to the regenerative enzymes in our blood stream — his own neural pathways are all badly strained from all the locks put on his soul and kept there for so long. He might have to become one of us in the long term…"

The others hearing this all shook their heads. "That wouldn't be right," Hyūga Sayuri — one of six girls modelled after characters from the dating simulation game _Little Lovers She So Game_, released the same year as _Girl Friends_ — stated before sipping her milkshake. "Yes, given what we know now, what he did was wrong. But he had no choice but to obey his own programming…and we were never allowed any chance to question anything about what was happening around us. He was moulded as a man at the beginning; he was modelled after our owner's own son…who died when he was a baby in a car accident that claimed our owner's wife. Forcing _gender reassignment_ on him…!"

The others nodded…

* * *

The Avalon bioroid factory, that moment…

"Almost just like Kazuo and his mother…!" Inada Mizuho mused on hearing Sayuri's words, her pale blue eyes misty with pained tears.

_**Controller, as you know, I do not possess the capabilities to override the genetic moulding programming in the bioroid factory to allow a male bioroid to be created**_, the Staff of Gihan warned; the millennia-old Sagussan weapon had allowed the would-be warrior-priestess the chance to observe the awakening of the young women she had helped rescue. _**Only the Genesis Wand of Parah has that power. And I cannot sense whether or not Geran dai-Farosh and his friends have succeeded in finding the Genesis Wand.**_

She grimly nodded in acknowledgement. "Aye, I know…but there might be an Earth solution to the matter."

_**In what matter?**_

Mizuho smiled…

* * *

The captain's cabin, middle of the afternoon watch…

"So there's little hope of him being able to operate properly?"

"I'm afraid not, sir," Honda Tomoko answered. A person who was modelled on one of the characters from the original _True Love Story_ dating simulation game from 1997, she was a woman with grey eyes under reading glasses and grey-highlighted black hair that went to mid-back; it was now tied off in a thick French braid. When she had first been asked what trade she wished to be employed in, Tomoko initially elected to become a naval electronics technician (radar), the technical experts on all above-water sensory gear fitted to Canadian warships. However, in recent years, trade structure reviews in the Navy had seen a movement start to have all the non-commissioned members of a ship's naval combat systems engineering department united into a single "weapons engineering technician" trade due to the lack of journeymen — personnel ranked ordinary seamen through leading seamen — available to work in each of the old trade categories. Despite the influx of Avalonian-Canadians soon to join the Navy full-time — to say anything of the massive numbers of bioroids now serving in the Naval Reserve — it was decided that the first united basic "weng tech" course would be inaugurated at the Canadian Forces Naval Engineering School in Halifax at the start of 2011. Uniting the five old naval combat engineering trades — naval weapons technicians and the four types of naval electronics technicians (sonar, radar, communications and manager) — would promote greater training efficiency and allow new weng techs many chances to work on everything fitted to their ships. Tomoko and seventeen other plank owners from _Haida_ would get the chance to sample that course after their basic navy environmental course ended at the start of February.

"From what I was able to understand of Mayumi's programming analysis scans concerning our guest, he's been forced to 'obey the party line' for ten years, ever since his initial activation," she then added. "His father clearly didn't care at all for the fact that Sunmee had — by design — the ability to think and create things on his own. Every time he _**did**_ show original thought, new programming caps were slammed down on his very soul to return him back to a more 'acceptable' state of operation. It's like applying all sorts of antibiotics to deal with an infection; they can get rid of the infection, but it doesn't eliminate the body's vulnerability to being infected."

"Good God!" Romaine Xavier breathed out, shaking his head. As he was Tomoko's department head, he had been called into Brian Gamblin's cabin to overhear this.

"What do you personally think his chances of recovering are?" Gamblin asked.

Tomoko sighed. "I would have to agree with Mayumi, sir. We're talking about _**ten years**_' worth of emotional damage to the man's soul. Even for an android, recovering from that sort of thing will take time…and there's no guarantee of success. But we will try."

"Carry on, Miss Honda," Gamblin bade with an approving nod.

She straightened herself. "Sir!"

With that, the future weng tech stepped out of the captain's cabin, making her way for the nearest turbolift station. Stepping into it, she called out, "Deck A9 Aft!"

Two minutes later, she stepped out of the car and made her way to the personal laboratory effectively set aside for Asai Mayumi. Stepping inside, she smiled on seeing her sister would-be weng tech seated by the diagnostic bed holding the unmoving Sunmee dai-Kohl, sipping a coffee as she gazed on a dataPADD. "How is it?" Tomoko asked.

Shinosaka Yuiko was another girl modelled after a character from _True Love Story_, though her character actually appeared in the last incarnation of that series, the PlayStation 2 release _Summer Days, and yet…_ from 2003. Like Asai Mayumi and Honda Tomoko, Yuiko was forced to wear glasses over her brown eyes. She had wavy umber-shaded hair that went to mid-shoulder. Like Tomoko, Yuiko wanted to be a naval engineering technician, though she had originally selected to specialize as a communications systems technician. And like Tomoko, Yuiko was going to become one of the first people to experience the new weapons engineering technician TQ3 course after basic training and naval environmental training. "About a quarter of the way done," she stated as she gave her fellow would-be weng tech a knowing look. "This is really bad."

"Ella came up with the idea of possibly forcing him through a body swap," Tomoko said as she walked over to the drinks vending machine to prepare a cup of coffee.

"I wouldn't recommend it, not now," Yuiko stated with a shake of the head. "I may not have been programmed as intensively as Mayumi was concerning artificial intelligences — it's pretty obvious now that she had been personally prepared to be his own doctor — but even I can tell that from what I've seen so far." She then hummed. "Still…"

"What?"

"Why don't we try to seek a REAL expert on someone like him?"

Tomoko blinked. "Someone on Zeiwan, you mean."

"Onē-sama does have a friend from that planet, remember?"

The dark-haired girl hummed. "True. What time is it in Tomobiki?"

"Oh-three-twelve."

An annoyed sigh ecaped Tomoko. _Damned time zones!_ she mused to herself before saying, "Okay, I'll call Onē-sama at the start of the second dog watch."

The other girl nodded…

* * *

The Electronic Warfare Control Room…

"…must we continue to tolerate this _**arrogant presumption**_ the government of the United Tribes of Uru has always demonstrated to all who deal with it?" the elderly man with the Oriental looks and the bronze-gold skin stated as he faced the other delegates in the main meeting hall of the Galactic Federation of Planet-States in Rajdhani, the capital city of the planet Tahupraemiku. "It's bad enough that for over a hundred years, we allowed ourselves to be persuaded by the Urusian government to constantly coddle the slaveocracy that — unknown to almost all of us — existed on Phentax Two. It's even worse when the government in Onishuto decided to _**unilaterally**_ ignore the clauses of the Galactic Non-Interference Treaty to force an open first contact with the planet Earth when it was well known that the Steel Angels AND that planet's Jewel Warrior were all available to defend the planet from an Ipraedies or Seifukusu invasion…_**which may not have happened in the first place**_! And now, after the Terrans made it quite clear — and for more than understandable reasons given the discovery of an ANTI-MATTER BOMB in the town of Tomobiki some months ago, planted there at the orders of the former president of Phentax Two for the most _**ridiculous**_ reason imaginable! — that they will NO LONGER tolerate any sort of influence by the Urusian government on their affairs, what happens?! AN ATTEMPTED INVASION OF EARTH ITSELF!" He took a deep breath. "It is only by the grace of the Fates that the Moroboshi siblings — who helped in the liberation of the Avalonians — anticipated such a thing and were prepared to face it down, which they did. It is only regrettable that Moroboshi Tariko used lethal force in dealing with the invaders she shot down with a Lawgiver. It would have been preferable to drag these miscreants in front of the High Court of Star Chamber on the planet Tengsei. Seeing them all mentally reprogrammed at Hichkyech'eng Prison would be the perfect punishment for their violation of their own government's promised word!"

Angry shouts echoed from the Urusian delegation, though the quick rap of a metal gavel on a plate silenced them. "The delegation from Uru are reminded that Prime Minister Hosha of Zeiwan still has the floor," the current chairwoman of the Federation — and the crown princess-regent of Tahupraemiku — coldly declared. "My apologies, sir."

"You have my thanks, Your Highness," Hosha stated with a bow of his head to Lupica before he faced the other delegates. "It is now the position of the government of the United Republic of Zeiwan that this continued demonstration of wilful ignorance of many intergalactic treaties by the government of the United Tribes of Uru towards other worlds cannot be tolerated anymore. While we note with delight that the Imperial Round has been effectively destroyed once and for all, we must sadly acknowledge that the basic attitudes members of the Round wilfully engendered amongst the citizens of Uru and her colonies are still prevalent. That attitude must be changed immediately. I remind you all, my friends, that not some months ago, the Lady Infinity herself…"

Screams of mortal fright echoed from many of the delegates there. "He didn't even say the damned word!" Ikusawa Kyōko muttered under her breath as the people inside the EWCR watched the Intergalactic News Network relative live-time feed — as Tahupraemiku was just 120 light years from Earth, the standard hyperspace transmission speed of Warp 15 only delayed the signal by 83 minutes and 6.8 seconds — on the main view screen at the forward end of the space. Assembled there with Miyamoto Nabiki's lover were a considerable number of people from the ship's crew and both civilian and military visitors from Ottawa, representing several government departments.

"What did you expect, Kyōko?" Koizumi Hitomi — who had once worked with Kyōko in the main computer room before she had elected to undergo officer training — then wryly asked. The future MARS officer had just been assigned as one of _Haida_'s junior information and communications systems managers, the officers on the starship who were responsible for collecting and analyzing all incoming data through the ship's various sensory and communications systems before piping it up to the combat directors in the operations room on Deck A8 for action. This would place Hitomi — and Takanashi Naoko, who had also been appointed to the same type of position — in spaces such as the EWCR and the Main Sensor Control Room (both on Deck A7) and the Main Communications Room on Deck A5 when the ship was in operation and they wouldn't be needed as junior officers of the watch. "Miss Relota appeared in the first meeting they held at Rajdhani after the Liberation. Made them all soil their undergarments doing that."

"Short memories, Miss Koizumi?" one of the civilians present today — he had on a small enamel crest that identified him as an officer of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Dominion's primary internal/external intelligence agency — asked.

"Sometimes way too short," Naoko noted from nearby.

Nods from around the room as the screams echoing from the speakers quelled down. As the camera focused on Hosha, the people watching him from over a hundred light years away were quick to note amusement on the veteran politician's face. "What's the story on this man?" an External Affairs officer then asked Bren Tai.

"One of the most respected politicians in the Federation," the blond Oni answered, his words echoed by a nod from Uio Toma; given their seniority in rank and their considerable knowledge when it came to the politics of the local cluster, the former Urusian Defence Force commander-turned-Canadian Navy reserve MARS officer and the Urusian Marines major-turned-Canadian Army reserve infantry officer had been invited to observe this and make commentary. "Even hard-core Imperials like Yethis respected the man despite their loathing him because he isn't Urusian. A multimillionaire by your terms; he was an investment banker before he got into politics full-time. His daughter Chara was one of Miss Lum's elementary school classmates; she runs an android factory in Kutzei and is known to be quite the innovator when it comes to AI design." Noting the surprised looks on many people's faces, Tai smirked. "That's pretty normal for their kind."

"Could he sway the Federation to see his way?"

Eyes locked on the Minister of National Defence, who had been allowed to sit at the main controller's station in the EWCR. "I think so, sir," Toma stated. "Despite what they were ultimately after, Yethis and his allies were quite successful in making our government appear strong and united behind whatever cause they wanted to champion, from the Tag Race to the policies of appeasement concerning the Niphentaxians to keeping the Noukiites at arm's length and everything else that influenced our actions since we joined the Federation, Minister MacKay. Now that they're gone and people on Uru are scrambling to find some way to reunite the people behind their government…"

"Uru would no longer be able to steer the Federation in the way they wish it to go."

That was the Minister of External Affairs, who was seated at a station next to his fellow parliamentarian. "That's correct, Minister Cannon," Toma affirmed.

By then, the shouts and cries of fright had died down in the meeting hall in Rajdhani. Now that he was able to speak openly, the Zeiwanite prime minister lightly smiled. "My friends, I did not make mention of the name of the Lady Infinity's home planet," he reminded them, eliciting yet another chorus of frightful screams from the crowd.

Laughter echoed through the EWCR. "He's enjoying this," Peter MacKay stated before nodding thanks as a steward handed him a cup of coffee.

"I wonder what their version of Question Period is like," Lawrence Cannon noted as he sipped his own cup of coffee before sitting back in his chair.

Both veteran parliamentarians chuckled as they recalled the often loud and boisterous behaviour inside the House of Commons during the afternoon Oral Questions — known more commonly as "Question Period" — sessions which permitted members of the lower house of Parliament from the opposition parties a chance to seek out information from the Prime Minister and/or the Cabinet or to call the current government's actions into account for the public record. "Well, given that to be a parliamentarian on Zeiwan, you have to have shown success in business, that sort of thing is actually quite quick and sedate, Minister Cannon," Tai stated as he gave the representative of the riding of Pontiac north of Ottawa in Québec a sympathetic look. "Even if legally, any person over the age of majority on Zeiwan can serve as a Representative within the United Parliament, people on that planet wouldn't trust anyone who _**hadn't**_ earned a million uniCredits by the time they turned twenty."

"Meritocracy to the extreme," one of the CSIS officers mused.

"Pity they couldn't come here to advise the idiots on Wall Street on how to run their businesses," another civilian — this one from External Affairs — muttered. "Would have saved the Avalonians a tonne of money when they migrated here."

Nods from the others in the room. Part of the reason the Avalonians had been so easily accepted on Earth was their willingness to present unimaginable hordes of wealth — in precious metals and technology, not to mention intellectual knowledge — to national governments for their own use without any sort of unreasonable restrictions. And while some people worried that some lunatic would make use of Avalonian technology to cause horrific damage to innocent people — those who were part of or allied to al-Qā'idah were often cited as the most likely type of madmen to do this sort of thing; suspicions like that were most often generated by officials in Washington…which now struck people all over the planet as hypocritical given that the recent attempted attack on U.S.S. _Arizona_ the day she was commissioned was instigated by evangelical _**Christian**_ fanatics! — the bioroids demonstrated their willingness to help the security forces of their adopted homelands keep order as the lives of millions worldwide began to undergo a massive revolution unlike anything that had happened on Earth before.

A clear majority of the wealth the Avalonians brought with them from the Phentax system had been immediately funnelled into national treasuries, which had unleashed a massive impact on public debt worldwide. Canada's own net national debt — which had been over five hundred billion dollars before the Avalonians came in February — was cleaved to a tenth its original size, equalling the level of national debt that had existed in the mid-1970s and the massive public overspending of the Trudeau era; it was estimated that the national debt would be effectively eliminated in a year's time.

Even better, Avalonians were quite willing to support themselves with the use of their own technology, trying as best as they could to minimize the impact of their presence on Earth via local social programs such as provincially-sponsored welfare roles…to say anything of basics such as food supply and water. Also, Avalonians were quite willing to do anything to help improve the lives of their new countrymen. The unemployment rate in Canada had taken a nosedive since March; it currently stood at about three percent nationwide. The alien-born new citizens of the Dominion were spearheading massive public works projects across the country to improve transportation networks, which would have immediate impact on trade flows and economics. Other groups of Avalonians — cheered on by people such as the well-known host of the CBC's popular science program _The Nature of Things_, David Suzuki — were helping clean up the environment from the effects of industrial pollution such as what the development of the Athabasca oil sands in Alberta had unleashed over the last decade. They also were helping replenish seafood stocks to help revitalize fisheries in British Columbia and the Atlantic provinces, which had seen hundreds of outports in Newfoundland literally rise from the dead in the last two months alone. Other groups were helping protect wildlife from urban encroachment and restore forests that had been lost over the years to the demands of the lumber industry. Also, the First Nations of Canada as well as the Inuit and Métis were benefiting thanks to the kindness of the "angels of the stars" now living amongst them; without hesitation, groups of Avalonians — who had been immediately adopted by local bands as members of their nations — launched projects to rehabilitate communities which had long suffered from government indifference and lack of funding, not to mention tackle substance abuse and other health issues.

All of this was being done with next to NO impact on public finances!

More so, much to the shock of industrial leaders worldwide, Avalonians were willing to pay business companies for the use of products and services they needed to help settle down on Earth. The arms industry was one group that had benefited greatly from this practice. Even though Avalonians could mass-produce all forms of equipment without any sort of production cost, they always paid a type of royalty charge to the companies that had designed the original equipment. For example, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann — the German company based in Munich that built the Leopard 2A6M main battle tank the Canadian Army used as their primary armoured fighting vehicle — was paid a five percent charge on all Avalonian-built Leopards. That, given that all armoured regiments in Canada — a planned total of seven Regular regiments and forty Militia regiments (including units yet to be organized) — would get 80 tanks each (including spare units for training purposes), spelt a payout of over _**two billion dollars**_ to Krauss-Maffei, which would immediately contribute to increased tax payments into government coffers to bring down national debts further. Other companies that supplied the Canadian Forces likewise benefited from this, including Canadian companies such as the local subsidiary of General Dynamics Land Systems in London, the builders of the LAV III wheeled armoured fighting vehicle and its many variants. Given the numbers of _**those**_ vehicles needed by the Army to outfit its present and future mechanized infantry battalions, not to mention reconnaissance regiments…!

And — much to the complete disbelief of environmentalists — the worldwide petrochemical industry hadn't been left out of the fun. Plastics — which, for the most part, were synthesized from petroleum — were still needed even if the introduction of replicator technology made global recycling of waste and the elimination of landfills a priority for local governments. Thanks to the overwhelming desire by the public to engage in helping clean up the environment, vehicle manufacturers were turning their backs once and for all from internal combustion engines running on gasoline, concentrating on constructing vehicles powered by "lukewarm" fusion reactor systems, hydrogen power cells driving electric motors or vehicles running on renewable biofuels with special environmental shielding systems to eliminate a car's carbon footprint. Because of that, the demand for petroleum had commenced a steep plunge that could have ultimately wiped out oil companies like Suncor in Canada and ExxonMobil in the United States…save for the fact that Avalonians were willing to help those companies diversify into new energy-producing technological fields such as nuclear fusion and biofuels.

Best of all, the Avalonians had not been the least bit arrogant when it came to dealing with their new countrymen. Having lived through the horrors of up to a century of chattel slavery — with a majority of them having lived as sex slaves to their former masters on Phentax Two — the bioroid race didn't want to inflict that sort of pain or anything similar to that on anyone else. Yes, there were many Avalonians — and the vast majority of hybrid children born from Avalonian mothers and Niphentaxian fathers; the agonies they endured had sickened even the most religiously conservative mainstream leader on Earth — who suffered from many forms of post-traumatic stress disorder no different than what war veterans often experienced after the shooting stopped. But when the bioroids had decided to seek out refuge in Earth's solar system after the Liberation, they fell back on a time-honoured proverb: **_Honesty is always the best policy._**

Thus, to ensure they could stay — much to the delight of Terran politicians at the national level as well as the United Nations — the bioroids had been up front with the leaders of Earth from the beginning. The provisional Avalonian government under Otako Meinyak's leadership wanted to force the leaders of the Galactic Federation to finally start practicing what they had long preached when it came to other races, even an artificially-born race like the bioroids who were all born of the blood of old Sagussa. The best way to effect such a change of attitude was to play up on fears the leaders of the Federation felt towards being cut off from each other economically. The most efficient way to do that was to place themselves astride the most vulnerable point of Federation space: Earth's solar system, which was located between the space of the Ipraedies Empire to the galactic east, the Seifukusu Dominion to the galactic west, the Imperial Dominion of Noukiios to the north and one of the Federation's member-states, the Republic of Gomiana, to the south. As was well known to the Men In Black, there was only a thin corridor of free space between Noukiite and Ipraedies space connecting Terran/Neptunian and Urusian space by which Federation ships could traverse without harassment from either the Empire or the Imperial Dominion; this had been the situation that ultimately provoked the Tag Race in the first place. Since keeping Earth clear of "unwelcome" alien influence had been a priority to the Federation for years, the Tag Race — while it DID violate the letter of the Galactic Non-Interference Treaty, which forbade signatory parties from influencing the development of less-advanced worlds — had pretty much worked out for the best since overt Urusian interest on Earth had effectively kept the Ipraedies away.

Thus, the Avalonians' move to help cut Earth off from open contact had forced the Galactic Federation into a catch-22 situation. By not doing anything to persuade the Niphentaxians to emancipate their bioroid slaves once information about the Avalonians became known to various planets' intelligence agencies, the Federation had ultimately earned the Avalonians' scorn for not forcing the government on Phentax Two to adhere to the clauses in the alliance's founding treaty that forbade any member state from practicing non-judicial involuntary servitude. By placing themselves in Earth's solar system, the Avalonians could — if they wished — cut off all trade between various Federation worlds…even if the Avalonians' presence inside the orbit of Ceres ALSO guaranteed that the Seifukusu and Ipraedies could never invade Earth without paying a steep price for such ambitions. Atop that, earning the favour of the Noukiites, the Yehisrites and the Yizibajohei had forced the Federation to realize that the Avalonians really had no need to forge any collective defence agreements with neighbouring states like Neptune-Triton and Gomiana. Worst of all — in a perfect act of vengeance against their old masters — the Avalonians' move to Earth effectively cut Phentax Two off from the planet. That — given that analyzing and copying Earth culture was an acute addiction Niphentaxians had suffered from for decades regardless of what the "one true faith" had recently unleashed there — would result in an eventual social holocaust for that race, ensuring the Federation would not be able to depend on Niphentaxian industry to help protect them from future Ipraedies or Seifukusu aggression for a long time to come.

Finally, thanks to the destruction of the Konton pirates in mid-March, plus threatened attacks by Yizibajohei metahumans on Uru and other planets in the Federation — the latter driven by deep memories of the events surrounding the Mother of All Fight Scenes over two centuries ago, which gave the natives of Yiziba enough reasons to NEVER trust Urusians — any move by the Federation to influence the Terran/Avalonian situation had been effectively halted in its tracks. And now, in the wake of the blunting of an Urusian Imperial/Niphentaxian attempt to attack Earth via the Central Warp Chamber on Triton thanks to Moroboshi Tariko and Hayashi Kanami — ultimately resulting in the near-total destruction of the former group and the delivery of the founder of the Church of Lum to Vos to face charges of genocide, thus effectively ripping the heart out of the "one true faith" once and for all time — the leaders of the Federation had fallen into a near-blind panic over what might happen should the leaders of the United Nations and the Provisional Republic decide to seek out a more aggressive form of retaliation.

Which, all the people in _Haida_'s EWCR knew, had already been done thanks to all the side-effects of the Task Force's recent mission to Yaminokuni.

_They're like chickens running around with their heads cut off_, many of them mused on seeing the squawking delegates in the chamber at Rajdhani. _Perfect…!_

"This could lead people into doing something desperate."

Eyes locked on the teenager standing next to _Haida_'s Elder Mother. "What do you mean by that, Miss Hensō?" the Minister of National Defence asked.

She sighed. "One of the things I learned from my father was this: Wars are started by people who are either angry at something…or who are scared out of their minds. I never visited Rajdhani when my father went there to participate in meetings like this." Here, Hensō waved to the main view screen. "But I did listen to my father speak to General Lana and other leaders — including Yethis and the other members of the Imperial Round — about how other leaders in the Federation thought about things. Including the problems having TWO sentient races in ONE solar system — especially with one of those races having not developed their own warp technology — presented to defence planners elsewhere. Especially since the traditional enemies of my people — the Seifukusu and the Ipraedies — held space close to this solar system."

"So what would be the reaction of the Federation states to our having ships like _Haida_?" the newly-appointed Chief of Defence Intelligence — he had just been assigned to the top intelligence post in the Canadian Forces at the start of the month — asked.

"Some would see it as a very good thing, General Rousseau," Toma answered. "They won't have to expend money, personnel and equipment to extend their forces into protecting this system. Atop that, with Earth now seeing to its own defence, the Noukiites would eventually pull back to Jiyū…" She caught herself, and then flustered. "Sorry! Tengsei, I mean!" As people chuckled, she smiled. "That would make many people who don't really care for the Noukiites relax. In their eyes, the leaders in Suchkyuk won't be seen as overtly influencing events in New York City or on the factory."

"Even better, with the Men In Black moving to acquire the solar systems to the galactic west and south of here from the Seifukusu, that means that a potential threat from the Magate Round against this sector of space is lessened even further," Tai added. "That will still leave us with the Ipraedies to deal with…but now that their deep-penetration observers are in the hands of the Noukiites, they're effectively blind as to what's really going on with Earth. Yes, the leaders in Ipraedos City are arrogant racists, no different than many of my old friends." Here, he blushed, which made the others in the room laugh. "But they're not stupid people. They know they're surrounded on all sides by potential enemies. They don't want to provoke something that could create a cascade effect that would have everyone else gang up on them."

"There's also the fact that not all Ipraedies — even their leaders — are racist."

Eyes locked on Hakaru Ayami; she was manning the view screen controls. "That's right," Lawrence Cannon said. "You and your friend were kidnapped from Earth by them…yet it was people from Ipraedos who actually helped you escape."

She nodded. "Yes. You have to understand that Ipraedies society these days is split almost down the middle into two large groups: Dowe'on and Asan'on."

"'Star Guardians' and 'Home Guardians?'" Cannon asked; the ship's on-board universal translation fields had handled those terms easily.

"Yes. Three hundred years ago, the Ipraedies — having just unified under one single worldwide government — encountered a planet named Aimaiyu." She tapped controls to reduce the INN feed to a small window as she produced a local galactic map, then brought up a targeting icon over a star to Earth's galactic southeast. "What they did to the natives of that planet was — and I mean this as no personal insult to anyone here — worlds worse than what your ancestors did to the First Nations after John Cabot sailed to Newfoundland in 1497." As people nodded, she then smiled. "But like the voyageurs of old New France, some of the Ipraedies who settled on Aimaiyu adopted native customs and traditions. That includes the native faith in what they call the 'Ehn'; it's their way of addressing the Te'a. They took those beliefs and customs back to Ipraedos and it spread like wildfire. Eventually, those who believed in the Ehn began calling themselves 'Dowe'on.'"

"What about the Asan'on?" Tai asked.

"The Asan'on came together after other first contacts were made with the Vosians, the Yehisrites and other races who controlled space around them," Ayami explained. "They were originally a political party of sorts, who supported everything that was being done to make their people strong in the face of potential alien aggression. But as the Dowe'on came to believe that the best way to deal with other races was to treat them as equals, the Asan'on began expressing the racist beliefs that you're familiar with, Commander. By the time the Vosians dealt with the Ipraedies at Reiner's Five, the Asan'on and Dowe'on had evolved into opposing political factions: The Home Council and the Tribunal respectively. Never going to the point where a civil war would break out, fortunately; there were moderates on both sides that worked hard to keep the radicals in both groups from doing something stupid." As people nodded, she sighed as she shut off the map to allow the INN feed to fill the view screen. "Ever since, it's been a balancing act between both sides. The current emperor is pretty much the darling of the Asan'on…but the crown prince favours the Dowe'on worldview. Because of this political stalemate, I don't see the Ipraedies moving to threaten anyone anytime soon, even if Emperor Schwartz is about to croak in his sleep one of these days."

"What about Vos?" Toma then asked. "With their civil war ended thanks to the Lady K'ekhech trucking Ōgi off to Lecashuto to be tried for that bio-bomb attack, they can finally worry about what's going on outside the Confederation's borders. We all know about the Superwarrior kids Governor Tuongta's people helped rescue from Barsoom ten years ago. That sort of thing is something no Vosian would condone…but because they were so busy fighting each other, they never went after Schwartz."

"Major, what are you talking about?" the defence minister asked.

An embarrassed smirk crossed her face. "I apologize, Minister MacKay. This all stems from the Vos-Ipraedos War of a century ago. The Vosians defeated the Ipraedies at the Battle of Reiner's Five by using their best psi-hunters as a psychic early warning net to get around Ipraedies cloaking screens and defeat their forces. The Mikado was the man who made that happen; the fact that he wasn't properly recognized — in his eyes — for what he did to win that battle drove him into launching his coup d'état against the government of the Confederation at the time. The Ipraedies never forgot what happened and drove themselves to research ways to get around Vosian tracking powers. Eventually, it was decided that the best way to deal with that was to fight fire with fire. Twenty years ago, they began kidnapping Vosian women to force them to give birth to hybrid children who could then be raised as Ipraedies warriors." As people scowled on hearing that, Toma crossed her arms. "The mistake Schwartz's people made was to set up the camp on Barsoom, which is not too far from the Lady Governor Tuongta's home colony."

"Kasei," Ayami provided.

"Why set it up on that planet?" the external affairs minister wondered.

"Barsoom is a very remote planet in Ipraedies space; it's actually just to the galactic east of us at about six light-years' range. The Dowe'on would have done everything in their power to stop this type of project, Minister," Ayami answered. "That sort of forced breeding is something they do not like. To say anything of forcing those born from this project to serve as child soldiers."

Other people nodded. "What happened was that Barsoom happened to attract the Lady K'ekhech's attention on her travels…and she stumbled onto the Superwarrior base camp," Toma continued. "She immediately contacted Governor Tuongta, who mustered up an Imperial Marine strike company. She also got Commander Nassur and his wife involved, plus Shogai Dakejinzō. They hit the planet, rescued the children and their mothers — who were scheduled to be executed so they couldn't influence their children anymore — and relocated them to Kasei. The troops there got a one-way ticket to Hichkyech'eng."

"Are they still there?" Tai asked.

"They were repatriated to Ipraedos two years ago," Ayami answered.

Nods all around. "So a potential Ipraedies attack on Earth — even if it gets any sort of decent public support — might get derailed if the Vosians decide to go after them for that business," Cannon stated with a nod. "Back to the basic question, then: What, if any, potential threat can come our way? Prime Minister Hosha did complain of Urusian racist attitudes towards other races."

"There might be one problem, sir."

Eyes locked on Tenwan Riu. A former lieutenant in the Urusian Marines who had once served under Toma, Riu was currently an infantry officer bearing the brevet rank of lieutenant, affiliated with the Lorne Scots (Peel, Dufferin and Halton Regiment) of Brampton west of Toronto. Her twin sister Kiu also was present; she had, however, elected to join the reformed 1st Battalion of the Irish Regiment of Canada, based in the former Metropolitan Toronto borough of York. As people gazed on her, the raven-haired Oni-turned-Avalonian walked over to the view screen. "Ayami, could you show us the image of the Urusian delegation attending this meeting, please?"

Ayami tapped controls, minimizing the INN feed and bringing up a still image of the Urusian delegation, who always sat close to the head of the meeting chamber near the lectern to the speaker's left. Once that was done, Riu asked her to blow up the image of one person's head. Once that image was produced, Hensō blinked. "Skelad Lara?!"

"Doesn't surprise me that you didn't know she's a supporter of the Imperial Round, Hensō," Riu stated. "Her father Slan was a very intimate friend of both Seq Yethis and Azu Des." As Lum's twin scowled on hearing that — Des was her adopted sister Negau's former superior in the Defence Intelligence Directorate, a man who had been quite vicious to the enemies of the Imperial Round — Riu added, "Slan was killed in the purges Negau launched after the attack on the Moroboshi home last week. I know that Lara loved her father dearly. And I know she strongly supported his causes. Unlike her sister Maki; she's as much of a Noukiiophile as your great-granddad."

"Wouldn't — if she now wants to seek vengeance — she go after the people who killed her father first?" the intelligence chief of the Canadian Forces asked.

"I met up with her two months ago, General. Just before I was forced to resign my commission and join Ando; it was Slan who actually warned us ahead of time that we'd be facing courts martial for our being Imperials," Riu answered as she indicated herself, then her twin sister. "I had my wife with me at the time; Ando had been soliciting both my sister and I for some time prior to that and had arranged for the creation of Umi and Mui by Ōgi's people to sweeten the deal." As people nodded, she added, "Umi could tell right then and there that Lara hated the Avalonians for 'stealing' Earth from Uru." As people gaped, the lieutenant shrugged. "I know! She's not thinking on all afterburners! Even crazier, she actually dreams of the day that — once the Empire is restored — Noukiios and You Know Where are 'brought to heel' as well. And if there's anyone who might try to stop her…like the Avalonians…!"

People nodded. "Your father forgot something, Miss Hensō," MacKay then said.

Lum's twin perked. "Sir?"

"He forgot to say that wars are also started by _**lunatics**_," the parliamentarian from Nova Scotia who had helped form the current Conservative Party of Canada breathed out.

Others grimly nodded…

* * *

Junior officer's quarters, start of the first dog watch…

"I am so proud of you…"

Hensō moaned as she allowed Naoko to undress her. "I don't want Lara to be hurt," she breathed out as her bond mate's lips gently flecked the skin of her neck. "She seemed so nice to me…I can't believe that Umi discovered _**that**_ about her…"

"Well, back then, you didn't have the advantage of touch-telepathy," Naoko said as she pulled the work shirt away from her lover's shoulders, revealing Hensō's breasts; like all other Avalonians on _Haida_ now, Lum's twin had shied away from wearing any sort of foundation garment…though that would change when her body started to properly menstruate and she would be forced to wear panties to hold a tampon in place between her legs. "Besides, should she try anything, she has to get past that sensory net between Mars and Ceres; I don't think Pukaze-sama would allow Lara to use the Warp Chamber like her uncle did last week to allow Yethis' friends to attack Onē-sama's family."

The other woman nodded as Naoko moved to unbuckle her trousers. "True…"

While a part of Hensō did understand that she didn't have the ability to influence things now — as it was generally believed that she was actually on Yaminokuni married to Rupa's sister Ika; in truth, another Avalonian clone of Lum called Izabel had been created to be Ika's wife — there was the part of her that demanded she do something to ensure that which was hers would remain safe from potential threat. Despite the mistakes she had made when it came to her former husband — which, in one sense of the term, had _**never**_ been her husband since Ataru had only tagged her horns to win the Tag Race the previous summer — Hensō always tried to live her life honourably. That made her believe that those around her would also behave in an honourable fashion, a belief that had been reinforced by her parents' treatment of her since the day she had awoken in Lum's original body and had become the daughter of Redet Invader and Seq Chim by default. And while there had been the stupid things — the whole matter with Elle and Invader's willingness to launch a war to ensure Hensō would be able to marry Ataru — people like Invader and his wife, not to mention friends of the family such as Uru's current president Grand General Hozan Lana, had acted in a fashion Lum's twin had always seen as honourable and proper.

But to hear THAT…!

"She gave you your first wet dream?"

Hensō gasped on hearing Naoko's amused question, and then she stared wide-eyed at her lover before her cheeks reddened. "I guess that must have been part of my original social programming pushing through the influence of Obā-chan's curse on Onē-san and me."

The elder mother of the Avalonians on _Haida_ then hummed as she allowed an image of Skelad Lara to pass before her mind's eye. A very coquettish yet shapely woman — Lara reminded Naoko of an Oni version of Azu Roki's wife Pai save for her hair being the normal Oni colour of luminescent green-blue, flowing in wavy bangs down to mid-back — she had deep blue eyes that had seemed to burn with high intelligence. While Naoko would certainly accept what Tenwan Umi discovered about this girl as fact — after all, it was next to impossible in Avalonian experience to hide things from an empathic or telepathic scan — there was a small part of her that, like her bond-mate felt now, wanted to believe Lara was actually not truly evil. Besides, Lara clearly didn't show signs of any sort of abuse and being loyal to one's father was certainly understandable. Still…

"What about her mother?" Naoko asked as she laid down to allow Hensō to undress her.

"I never knew about Lara's mother," Lum's twin answered…

…before a klaxon echoed through the room. "Action stations! Action stations! All personnel, man your battle stations!" the boatswain mate of the watch bellowed over the intercom. "Russian Aerospace Defence Forces have detected an incoming small ship past the Ceres orbit line! All personnel, man your battle stations!"

Naoko was already running out of the room. "Tcha! It doesn't stop…!" Hensō grunted as she moved to dress herself before heading to Sick Bay…

* * *

The operations room…

"What have you got, Sergej?!" Heather Thompkins asked.

"Our comrades at Nogínsk picked up a small craft — not that much larger than a car — passing the Ceres line at Sector 61 five minutes ago, Comrade Admiral," Sergej Vysockij answered from the operations room of _Haida_'s Russian sistership, the R.F.S. _Fëdor F. Ušakóv_. "We're trying to get a clear picture of that…"

"Comrade Captain! We have a picture!" someone shouted from off-screen.

"Pipe it to _Haida_!" Vysockij ordered.

"_Da!_"

A split-screen image was then displayed on the main board. "A star boat?!" Tai exclaimed on recognizing the craft, which was shaped somewhat like a rubber ducky to the Canadians in the operations room. "That's a child's craft…!"

"Would it be Lum's cousin?" Brian Gamblin asked. "He had a craft like this."

"He wouldn't need one," Tai answered. "Atop that, since he's on Okusei now with Lum and her wife, not to mention General Traveller, if he did come to Earth…"

"He'd come from Tengsei," Heather concluded. "Sergej, where's this one coming from? Did the people at GCRKO get a potential approach course?"

"They did," Vysockij answered. "Our new friend came in through the Slot from Toshitto. As to what the original source-point of this one's voyage was, though…"

"Biologic alarm!"

Everyone tensed. "What, Roman! What?!" the Russian first-rank captain demanded.

"Comrade Captain, life sensors are detecting concentrations of a potential biological warfare agent inside the approaching craft!" the _Ušakóv_'s navigation officer, Roman Borodin, reported. "Running through the database…"

"Plague boat!" Tai hissed out.

Eyes locked on the blond Oni. "What's the standard response to something like this, Commander?" Gamblin coldly asked. "Is this an attack or an accident?"

"Wouldn't be able to tell unless we found a way to interview who's on that ship, Captain," Tai answered with a shake of the head. "I can say that biological warfare isn't something that's practised by the member-states of the Federation, much less the Seifukusu or the Ipraedies. After all, an attack of that nature automatically invites the same type of response. And given that some of the diseases that could be used that way are next to unstoppable once they're unleashed, well…"

"Biological version of MAD," Michelle Anderson quipped. "Mutual Assured Destruction."

He nodded. "Yes."

"Comrade Captain!"

"Yes, Roman?" Vysockij snapped.

"Life scans have confirmed the virus type," Borodin stated. "It's Hifuto. Atop that, we confirm two living people aboard the star boat. Oni-Urusians, both of them. And both…" A sickening hiss escaped the former submariner. "_Bože moj!_"

"What?!"

"They're _children_, Captain!" Borodin — who was a father of two, Heather knew — nearly sobbed. "Both of them are about six years of age…"

Everyone on _Haida_ cringed on hearing this. "Would this be a deliberate attack, Major?" Peter MacKay — who had been ready to beam back to Ottawa when the action stations alarm went off — calmly asked Uio Toma.

"Maidens, I hope not!" the Seishin-turned-Avalonian infantry officer hissed.

"_Haida_, this is _Ujjayini_."

Michelle tapped a control. "_Ujjayini_, this is _Haida_, go ahead."

"_Haida_, we've been monitoring the situation our friends from Moscow just reported to _Ušakóv_," the commanding officer of the Indian Naval Starship _Ujjayini_, Captain Laxmanrao Acharekar, declared. "We're very close to the incoming vessel right now; we were doing in-system trials in Sector 61 when the alert went out. We can take it in tow and keep it isolated until we get biological warfare containment experts up from Fort Detrick or Station Benenson to extract those poor children out of there and get them healed."

"There's no cure for Hifuto!" Toma warned.

"There is another option," Michelle stated.

"That sort of thing can only happen with _**physical contact**_, Lieutenant!" Tai stated. "If we clone new bodies for these kids, how can the _tre'cha_ happen without physical contact?"

Heather smirked. "There is a way," she said before tapping her dataPADD. "Laxy?"

"Yes, Admiral?" Acharekar called out.

"Take the ship in tow and stay in Sector 61," the admiral instructed. "See if you can remote-control the shutdown of its engines. We'll come out to rendezvous with you once we get someone who can telepathically communicate with these kids from a distance."

"Aye, ma'am!"

Heather tapped a control. "Ops to Sick Bay."

"Yes, Admiral?" Lynn Kennison called up from the ship's medical station.

"Call your sister, Lynn. We need her aboard right now."

"Aye-aye, ma'am!"

* * *

Just inside the orbit of Ceres…

"Where…are we, Shunran…?"

"Somewhere…" the frail girl with the badly blotched skin moaned as she tried to manipulate the controls of the small star boat she and her half-sister had taken when they had fled Uru — _How long ago…?_ Renning Shunran wondered — to escape the people trying to kill them. She coughed blood as she moved to key the sub-light drive…

…before a warning bell echoed from her left. Turning to look out of her left eye — the right had nearly rotted through thanks to the deadly filovirus particles that were now ripping her body apart, though she didn't have any real idea what it was — she tried to focus on it, fighting to recall what that alarm meant.

She then blinked in confusion as the star boat around her suddenly quaked for a second before an eerie silence fell over the small pilotage where Shunran and her sister Mayhan had been. A second later, the whole star boat began to slightly shudder, which made both girls blink in confusion before a bloody cough escaped Mayhan. "Tractor…beam…" she groaned as she turned onto her side. "Hurts…"

Shunran shakily nodded her head before peering through the periscope-like device that helped young Urusian children pilot this model of craft…before she blinked on seeing a massive ship floating before the star boat. It was about the same size as a Kashin-class vessel — according to the rangefinder programs who were keyed into the periscope — but it was a stormy grey overall with a flag-like marking aft of amidships and the Earth Arabic number **71** in black just under what might be the main bridge. The flag made Shunran blink several times as her disease-addled mind recalled basic lessons about the planet Earth she had learned in galactic kindergarten. The flag was a horizontal tricolour, shaded deep saffron over white over a shade of medium green, a dark blue multi-spoke wheel in the middle of the white field.

"India…" she whispered as her hand absently keyed a control…

* * *

I.N.S. _Ujjayini_, the operations room…

"Captain!"

Laxmanrao Acharekar — a handsome middle-aged man who was a twenty-year veteran of the Indian Navy; he had commanded that service's only aircraft carrier, the _Viraat_, before he had been assigned as captain of the Type One star battleship named in honour of the holy city of Ujjain on the banks of the Shipra in Madhya Pradesh — perked on hearing that shout, and then he looked over. "What is it, Libni?"

Libni Nakshband was one of the two hundred Avalonian-Indians who had been created to serve as the plank owner crew of the _Ujjayini_. One of ten of that group who volunteered for officer training, she and her sisters would go to the National Defence Academy near the Khadakwasla Dam in Maharashtra to commence their undergraduate studies in January; once graduated from the NDA, they would then move on to the Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala Hill in Kerala on the Arabian Sea coast for service-specific training before commissioning as sub-lieutenants. Libni — a beautiful girl shaped like a classic Kashmir princess, with long, wavy raven-black hair and deep brown eyes — was also the Elder Mother of the Avalonians on _Ujjayini_. Since her soul had just been augmented — that had been done over the weekend after the Task Force's return from Yaminokuni, when the other ships' crews could get their hands on the Dragon Jade — she currently wore her magatama earring, which was shaped like her home service's shield complete with the Lion Capital of Asoka crown. Currently, she was serving as junior officer of the watch. "I'm picking up a voice transmission from Tiger Seventeen," she stated before tapping a control to link the transmission to the loudspeakers in the operation room.

"India…India…India…India…"

Everyone blinked. "It's a girl!" executive officer Commander Nanak Sahota hissed.

"Captain!"

Heads snapped over to the combat officer. "What?!" Acharekar demanded.

"Look!" Commander Devaragunda Venkatesha said, pointing.

People gazed on the main view screen. "What in Heaven's name…?!" Sahota exclaimed.

"Who is that?!" Acharekar demanded…

…before the screen nearly overloaded from a burst of energy, causing everyone to duck away as they squeezed their eyes shut. A second later, the radiance faded, allowing people to blink as their eyesight came back to them, and then they turned to look once more at the view screen. Everyone then blinked. "Where did that girl go?!" Sahota demanded before she turned to Venkatesha. "Scan around, Dev! Find her!"

"Aye-aye!" the combat officer said as he tapped controls.

"Sick Bay to Ops."

Libni tapped a control. "Ops. Go ahead."

"Something rather strange just happened down here," Surgeon Commander Indrani Bhuinya reported with wry amusement. "Someone just teleported into the bio-hazard containment room for a second."

Everyone blinked, and then the captain sighed. "A Japanese girl dressed in a blue sailor suit-type uniform with a rather tall energy staff, Indra?" he asked.

People could sense the surprise in the medical officer's voice as she responded, "Yes, Laxy, that described her perfectly! She deposited two glowing meson crystals and two small vials of blood on the diagnostic table in the containment room before disappearing. I'm having Deva scan it now."

Libni gasped. "Deva?!"

"What is it, Libni?!" Devapriya Mohapatra, one of _Ujjayini_'s plank owners who planned to become a medical assistant, asked.

"You might want to focus your bio-scan to detect the Hifuto virus before doing decontamination procedures."

"Understood."

Everyone in the operations room breathed out. "What about that boat?" Sahota asked.

"Put it in one of the boat bays," Acharekar ordered. "Keep the bay depressurized, Nanak. _**No one**_ is to get in contact with that thing until it's fully decontaminated by our American friends."

"Aye, sir!"

As the executive officer relayed orders to the boatswains, the captain pinched the bridge of his nose. "What the hell is going on here?!" he muttered…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Character notes:

The "Helena" mentioned by Narumi near the start of the story is based on **Herena Urey Nodies** of _Ojō-sama Express_. The game's typical foreigner, she normally travelled with a camera wherever she went. Since the original character's name doesn't sound right in English — this was typical of foreign characters in early dating simulation games — I changed the spelling of the name to read **Helena Urey-Noddies**. She plans to become an **Imagery Technician** (**IMAGE TECH**), who are the Canadian Forces' in-house visual media specialists, responsible for the operation, maintenance and management of a wide variety of imaging equipment and products. They provide both still and video coverage of the Canadian Forces in support of operations, public affairs and internal communications.

As an aside, at the time of this story, imagery technicians form part of the **Air Operations Branch** of the Forces (the personnel branch which covers all hard-air trades in the military), so Helena would wear the Air Force light blue uniform even if she is assigned to _Haida_'s ship's company. In real life, all imagery technicians were formally switched over to the **Public Affairs Branch** of the Canadian Forces on 15 April 2013. The mission of that particular part of the military is to inform Canadians of the policies, programs, services, activities, operations and initiatives of the Canadian Forces in a manner that is accurate, complete, objective, timely, relevant, understandable as well as open and transparent within the law.

**Hoshino Manami** is, as noted above, one of the characters from _Girl Friends_, a Libido adult dating simulation game; this was the same group that created _Hōkago Ren'ai Club_. Put simply, games released by that particular company — which went effectively defunct around 2007 — are simple sex-fests for players to engage in, so the less said about that, the better; ironically, _HRC_ was one of the **_milder_** games produced by Libido. The only thing about the games produced by that group that I actually liked was the artwork, which was quite spectacular in its own right. From what I could see of the production art for _Girl Friends_, Manami — who is the older sister of the game's primary character, **Hoshino Naru** — was an office lady.

**Kamioka Chisato** is one of the characters from the 1997 incarnation of _Grand Prix_. From the city of Takamatsu in Kagawa Prefecture on Shikoku, she is a very quiet girl who likes to shop for groceries, owns a dog and loves to exercise.

**Hyūga Sayuri** is, as noted above, one of the characters from _Little Lovers She So Game_, a dating simulation game released in the early wave of that phenomenon back in the late 1990s in the wake of _Dōkyūsei_. Not as successful as games such as _Tokimeki Memorial_ or _Sentimental Graffiti_, _Little Lovers_ was one of the first dating simulation series I took interest in when I was teaching in Korea. From what the art book for the game shows, Sayuri is a rather traditional girl who likes to cook, swim, play the piano…and she hates loud noises.

**Honda Tomoko** is a character from the original _True Love Story_ game, which is one of the more popular dating simulation series to have come out in Japan, standing almost toe-to-toe with _Tokimeki Memorial_ given the number of sequel series that have been produced. By what I saw in the art book for the series, Tomoko is a very studious girl who is not as athletic as some of her peers.

And **Shinosaka Yuiko** comes from the last _TLS_ game, _Summer Days, and yet…_, which was the only version of the series to have also been released in an OVA series; a three-episode series was put out sometime after the game itself was produced. Like Tomoko, Yuiko works in the library and loves to read.

2) Over the years — as noted above — there were many trades in the Canadian Navy that were specifically responsible for the operation and maintenance of all naval combat systems aboard Canadian warships, from the guns to torpedoes to missiles to radar, radio, electronic warfare gear and sonar. By the time I served aboard H.M.C.S. _Saguenay_ in 1987-88, the trades specifically assigned as technical staff for a ship's weapons and combat systems were split down as follows:

**Naval Weapons Technician** (**NW TECH**) — They who actually maintained the weapons and all immediate related equipment;  
**Naval Electronics Technician (Acoustic)** (**NE TECH A**) — They who maintained all sonar and underwater detection gear;  
**Naval Electronics Technician (Tactical)** (**NE TECH T**) — They who maintained all radar, fire control and electronic warfare equipment;  
**Naval Electronics Technician (Communications)** (**NE TECH C**) — They who maintained all radios, cryptographic and other equipment dedicated to communications; and  
**Naval Electronics Technician (Systems)** (**NE TECH S**) — The supervisory trade, which all other NE TECHs would remuster automatically to before being promoted to petty officer 1st class.

By the time the 1990s rolled into the new millennium, the naval electronics technician trades were renamed in conjunction with some trade re-designations on the operational side of things. Acoustics techs became **Naval Electronics Technicians (Sonar)** (**NE TECH S**), tactical techs became **Naval Electronics Technicians (Radar)** (**NE TECH R**), communications techs remained the same and systems techs became **Naval Electronics Technicians (Manager)** (**NE TECH M**); furthermore, remuster into this trade was shifted up so that one became an NE TECH M before one became a chief petty officer 2nd class, thus effectively leaving one NE TECH M as the department chief petty officer on a warship.

However, as noted above, the number of journeymen entering the above-listed trades has dropped over the years, so it was decided that all the naval electronics and naval weapons technicians would be brought together under one single trade that would allow its members to work in ALL aspects of a ship's combat systems. Hence, the introduction of the **Weapons Engineering Technician** (**WENG TECH**, pronounced "wenje tech") trade in 2011. In this trade, new seamen are given basic electronics equipment and weapons maintenance training at the **Canadian Forces Naval Engineering School** (**CFNES**) in Halifax, then are posted aboard ship for their basic journeyman period. During this time, new WENG TECHs will be rotated through the five main naval combat systems maintenance groups (radar, sonar, communications, armament and fire control systems). Once one advances to leading seaman (after four years of service), the apprentice WENG TECH will then pick one of the five specialities s/he wishes to concentrate on, then serve there for the rest of their career. Just like the Marine Engineer trade (mentioned in the previous part), the specialities for WENG TECHs would be seen as sub-titles to the actual trade name.

3) A reminder of the **watch system** used on a ship:

**First Watch** — 2000 (8:00 PM) to 0000 (12:00 midnight)  
**Middle Watch** — 0000 (12:00 midnight) to 0400 (4:00 AM)  
**Morning Watch** — 0400 (4:00 AM) to 0800 (8:00 AM)  
**Forenoon Watch** — 0800 (8:00 AM) to 1200 (12:00 noon)  
**Afternoon Watch** — 1200 (12:00 noon) to 1600 (4:00 PM)  
**First Dog Watch** — 1600 (4:00 PM) to 1800 (6:00 PM)  
**Last Dog Watch** — 1800 (6:00 PM) to 2000 (8:00 PM)

The reason there are seven separate watch periods is to allow people to work at different times of day while at sea.

4) _The Senior Year_ character notes: Prime Minister **Hosha** of Zeiwan was introduced in story "Great Father Ataru Stage Five: Rescue." **Skelad Lara** (created by Mike Smith) was first introduced in the story "Towards the Unstoppable Future." And **Renning Shunran** was first introduced in the side story "Sylia's Book of Love." All the things concerning the **Ipraedies** — including the hybrid children of **Project: Superwarrior** — was introduced in "Benten's Story" and "Enter Space-Hybrid Hazel."

5) **David Suzuki** (born 1936) is a Japanese-Canadian — his Japanese name is **Suzuki Takayoshi** — who is an academic, science broadcaster and environmental activist. He is one of the most popular men in Canada; in the recent _The Greatest Canadian_ television series from 2004 ranking the greatest native of the Great White North of all time, he came in fifth place. He has been the host of _The Nature of Things_ since 1979…and the show (which first premiered in 1960) is still on-going!

6) The term **Outport** in the Canadian sense is applied to isolated coastal communities on the Island of Newfoundland; in recent years, this term has also been applied to such places on the Labrador coast as well. Some of the first European settlements in what is today Canada, the outports first began to appear between the Sixteenth and Nineteenth Century, established for the most part by fishermen who needed a permanent place to base their ships and business. In the early days, such settlements were illegal as those people based on the Rock were in direct competition with their countrymen operating out of the Gulf of Maine to the southwest. Eventually, outports became a permanent fact of life on Newfoundland, though their isolation from mainstream services compelled the government on the island to force resettlement from the outports to more accessible inland communities. While some have seen this form of forced resettlement as a type of cultural suicide by destroying rural Newfoundland society, the decimation of the local fisheries in the 1990s effectively spelled the final end of the outports as a way of life on the Rock.

7) Translations: **Coup d'État** — Literally "stroke of the state," this is the term used to mark the violent overthrow of a government by rebel forces; **Da** — Yes; **Bože moj!** — God help me!

8) Canadian Army unit notes:

The **Lorne Scots (Peel, Dufferin and Halton Regiment)** (**LORNE SCOTS**) is the resident infantry unit of the Regional Municipalities of Peel and Halton and the County of Dufferin west of Toronto itself. Headquartered in Brampton with detached companies in Oakville and Georgetown, the Lorne Scots are a part of **32 Canadian Brigade Group** (**32 CBG**), the Militia formation based in and around Canada's largest city and in the Niagara Peninsula south of Toronto. The regiment was first formed in 1866 as the "36th Peel Battalion of Infantry," uniting in 1936 with "The Lorne Rifles (Scottish)" (first formed in 1866 as the "20th Halton Battalion of Infantry"). As could be surmised by the unit's name, this is a Highland regiment.

The **1st Battalion, The Irish Regiment of Canada** (**1 IR REGT C**) is a battalion of one of Canada's youngest infantry regiments in the universe of this story; in real life, it doesn't exist. What happened was that the original Irish Regiment — first formed in Toronto in 1915 — was reduced to nil strength and placed on the Supplementary Order of Battle in 1964. The following year, an artillery regiment up in **_Sudbury_** of all places was converted to infantry and re-designated **2nd Battalion, The Irish Regiment of Canada** (**2 IR REGT C**), which today forms a part of **33 Canadian Brigade Group** (**33 CBG**), the Militia in eastern and northern Ontario. Thanks to this rather interesting administrative sleight of hand, the regiment was able to remain on the infantry order of battle…even if it was NOWHERE based near its traditional home town! In the universe of this story, the Avalonians learned of the original Irish Regiment of Canada and — after convincing some people from Sudbury to come down to Toronto — moved to re-establish the regiment, which occurred during the latter part of _Phoenix From the Ashes_ in the wake of the reformation of the **2nd/10th Dragoons** (**2/10 D**) of Niagara Falls. Of course, the First Irish are part of 32 CBG.

9) **Nogínsk** is a district in **Moskóvskaya Óblast'** (Moscow Province), which is the part of Russia that directly surrounds the capital city (which is a separate political entity from its like-named province) on almost all sides. This is the location of the **Main Space Intelligence Centre** (in Russian, **Glavnyj Centr Razvedki Kosmičeskoj Obstanovki** [**GCRKO**]), the headquarters unit of the federation's military space surveillance network. Like CFS Alert and other such ground bases introduced in this story, GCRKO Nogínsk is dedicated in the universe of this story to help detect all possible incoming threats from extra-terrestrial sources as well as helping maintain Russia's sovereignty.

10) The **Lion Capital of Asoka** badge is based on a sculpture of four Indian lions sitting back-to-back in a cross formation when viewed above. This is one of that nation's most valued treasures and serves as the symbol for Indian government crests such as the national coat of arms and the head of the military service crests. The physical Lion Capital of Asoka is currently in the **Sarnath Museum** near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. The sculpture dates from 250 B.C.E.


	4. Most Unusual Caregivers to the Rescue

Shunran's eyes fluttered open.

Confusion surged through the silver-haired, grey-eyed Oni child for a moment as she found herself lying against what felt like a mattress…even if she couldn't actually see said mattress. Looking around, she then blushed as she noted that she was totally naked…even if she was effectively veiled from any potential peeper by a beautiful orange-like mist that seemed to surround her on all sides. Noting that she didn't feel cold, she sat herself up and tried to peer intently at her surroundings…and then she stopped on seeing a sleeping pink-haired girl nearby. "Mayhan!" she gasped as she flew over to her half-sister's side. "Mayhan! Wake up! Wake up! Mayhan!"

The other girl moaned. "Shunran, don't shout…huh?!"

As Mayhan's blue eyes opened, they then widened in surprise on seeing what now lay around her and Shunran. Sitting up and allowing her half-sister to draw her protectively into her arms, she blinked. "Are we dead?" she whispered.

"You are not dead, young lady."

Both girls blinked at that voice, and then they turned to find themselves gazing at a smiling elderly man sitting in some sort of invisible chair nearby. Possessing the dusky skin of a native of the Indian subcontinent, he had wiry grey hair that formed something of a halo around his granite-like face with a bushy beard and moustache, that face pierced by dark brown eyes burning with great wisdom. He was dressed in very plain clothes that made both girls wonder if he was a priest of some sort. "Um…where are we, sir?" Shunran asked.

He smiled. "This is what the Space Angels — the Avalonians — call the Te'a, young Shunran," he declared. "As your new bodies are being prepared due to the horrid ravages of the blood sickness that nearly killed you both, your souls are being allowed a chance to touch the Te'a to prepare you for your new lives as Avalonians."

Both girls blinked as they took that in, and then they exchanged a look. "The bioroids that Hensō's ex-husband helped liberate from the Niphentaxians?" Mayhan asked.

"Indeed, Mayhan," he affirmed with a nod, and then he gestured with his hand.

Both girls blinked as their naked bodies were instantly sheathed in banarasi saris in black trimmed in soft gold, golden tigers prancing all over them; they were draped over very plain petticoats and blouses. Blinking for a moment as they took in what the man had just done for them, the sisters then stood up to face him, and then they bowed as they held their hands in prayer before their faces. Surprised by such a show of respect, he chuckled as he returned that greeting. "That never ceases to amaze me," he noted.

The girls gazed at him. "How so, sir?" Shunran asked.

"How much you aliens know about our small planet."

The sisters giggled. "Well, your planet is filled with such diverse cultures and societies. It's so different from what societies like ours are like," Mayhan stated before she sighed. "You're from India, right? You're from the Indian starship that saved both of us…" She then paused. "Hey! How did I know that?!"

A hearty chuckle responded. "That, the Fire Maiden did for you, Mayhan. After all, it simply wouldn't be fair to awaken you aboard the _Ujjayini_ as Oni-form Avalonians without giving you an idea what you're about to find yourselves in."

"'Fire Maiden?!'" Shunran wondered. "Is she that really pretty girl with the energy staff that appeared outside our star boat before we passed out?"

He nodded. "That is her. We do not know her name, but we believe she is a Terran-turned Avalonian. As to what motivates her, I can't say, but I believe she sees herself as a warrior, using her power to come to the aid of those who cannot protect themselves. The great staff she possesses is as powerful as the Power Jewel welded by the Protector of All Life, though it was only forged in the last twenty thousand years in lieu of three billion years ago." As the sisters gaped in awe, he smiled. "She is a good person. She seeks to become a Zoroastrian; she has visited fire temples in India, Iran and elsewhere since she first appeared in March to read the holy texts within. She also has protected many magical species such as dragons from harm by humans who would have killed or enslaved them." He shook his head. "There is, I believe, a very terrible burden upon her shoulders. When those who have had the chance to speak to the Fire Maiden ask her why she stays silent as to who she is, she states that she does so to protect her friends. I fear that the Fates forced her and her friends through a horrid trial that badly wounded all their karma. It gave her enormous strength, enough to make her a living bodhisattva as some of my Buddhist friends view her. But her friends are still so badly hurt…"

"That's terrible!" Mayhan nearly sobbed.

He nodded. "Yes, it is terrible, young Mayhan. Which is why the Protector herself has decreed that she and her friends are to be left alone until they all feel strong enough to embrace the new life they now possess." He then perked. "Oh, my heavens! I'm so sorry! I haven't even introduced myself yet!" As the sisters giggled, he waved to his heart. "I am Aziz Pujari of Haridwar in Uttarakhand, located on the shores of the Mother Ganges. A humble priest who was asked by the Indian Ministry of Magic to watch over the good crew of the _Ujjayini_ in matters spiritual. As you were both rescued by the crew of that ship, you now fall under my spiritual charge."

Both girls bowed. "We are honoured to meet you, Elder Aziz. As you know, I am Renning Shunran. This is my half-sister, Renning Mayhan," Shunran stated as she waved to herself before waving to her sister. "We're both effectively orphaned."

"And it was your father who tried to have you both killed," Aziz icily stated.

"Yes," the sisters answered together as they bowed their eyes.

A shake of the head before he looked off to his right and up. "Did you hear this?"

"I did, Master Aziz," a woman's voice answered from the mists, which made Shunran and Mayhan gape. "Fret not, though. Their vile sire is now in the hands of the good adopted sister of the Lady Lum and the Lady Hensō; his crimes against all those he viewed as 'lesser' than he soon to be exposed to the light of day. As you can clearly sense, the young ladies were rejected by him because they were both girls. That also led to the vile murder of their mothers…though, as you can also sense…"

Aziz chuckled. "Yes! That is simply amazing! Two beings, machines in body yet so human in soul!" He gazed in them. "Where are your adopted mothers now?"

"We don't know, sir," Shunran stated. "There is a special distress beacon on our star boat that our mothers and aunts can lock in on. But…"

"The beacon was disabled deliberately, though the ship's general identification beacon is still active and now transmitting," that voice stated as a figure draped in a blue seifuku appeared in the mists to Aziz's right, that holding a great staff with a glowing jewel of energy at one end. "Fret not about it, little ones," she stated as they gazed in awe at her. "My good friend is reaching out through the local cluster to locate them as we speak."

Hearing that, the sisters shuddered before they began to sob as they hugged each other. Both Aziz and the newcomer remained silent as Shunran and Mayhan wept, allowing both fear and hope to flow forth in waves from their souls. After a minute, their moans turned into hiccoughs as their souls moved to clamp down on their emotions. They then shared a sisterly kiss before gazing on the woman who had rescued them. "There's a problem," Shunran stated. "Our mothers and the other girls are Zeiwanite sex-droids, Type 33Gs. Activated three years ago after our real mothers died. They were built and programmed to proper Zeiwanite government standards when it comes to moral programming and security systems." She frowned. "Included in that were loyalty locks."

The older people blinked before Aziz moaned. "Oh, heavens! What sort of madness is that?!" he demanded. "If these girls are so human…!"

"They do not have rights on the world of their creation, my wise friend," the woman known to the mystics of India as the "Fire Maiden" stated. "Atop that, they are quite expensive even by Zeiwanite standards; the cost for any one of them would be at least a hundred billion rupees in India." As Aziz gaped in shock at her, she shrugged. "Fortunately, given the great sophistication in their programming and the laws preventing any sort of physical or emotional abuse towards such beings, most gynoids and androids like the Ladies Numon and Meiya have very caring — and quite wealthy — masters and mistresses."

"Disgusting…!" the Hindu priest from Haridwar sneered out before he held up a finger. "They must become Avalonians once they're found, of course."

"They will have to have their loyalty locks secured first."

He gaped. "Why?!"

"Because — given what just nearly happened to young Shunran and Mayhan — it wouldn't surprise me that whoever saw their mothers and aunts created had some contingency plans in place in case someone tried to interfere with this whole situation."

He grimly nodded. "To believe such evil exists in this universe."

"The Dark One does not stop for anything to extend his control over mortal lives, my friend," the newcomer stated. "You know that as well as I."

"Aye…"

_**Controller, I have located Renning Shunran's and Renning Mayhan's mothers.**_

Everyone perked on hearing that powerful voice speak, that echoed with glowing pulses from a certain staff's focusing crystal. "Where?!" Inada Mizuho demanded.

_**They are now approaching this solar system from the direction of Spotakite space**_, the Staff of Gihan answered. _**Currently aboard a Yashi-class corvette. From here, I can detect that all of them are functioning well despite the problems the lack of locking their loyalty locks now inflicts on them concerning some of their higher cognitive functions.**_

"Will _**he**_ be willing to do _that_ for them?!" Aziz asked.

"He will," Mizuho answered. "He and his family had to deal with a rogue Zeiwanite gynoid who tried to introduce that level of technology to the people who see themselves as overlords of the northern half of the Land of the Han just after the Liberation. He is quite aware of the necessity of engaging loyalty locks for people like that, much that the basic concepts behind such a thing disgusts him greatly. If you'll excuse me…"

And with a flash of light, she vanished from view. As silence fell over the scene, Mayhan gave Shunran a knowing look. "He stood up for Lum," she noted.

"Yeah, he did," the latter stated with a nod…

* * *

At a certain home in Tomobiki (local time: Tuesday 13 July, sunrise)…

"**_AH-CHOO!_**"

* * *

Fifteen light-years from Earth…

In a flash of light and energy, Mizuho appeared in the middle of a deserted and dimly-lit corridor deep inside a starship. Pausing for a moment as she reached out emphatically to scan around her, she then relaxed herself. Even if the twenty-two people now awake and operating this vessel were mechanical gynoids, they still had souls within them. Quite young souls — Mizuho had confirmed with the help of the Staff of Gihan what Shunran had said about when the girls on this ship were first activated — but still souls that were utterly no different than that of a normal-born person or even a pure-born Avalonian. Yes, they were chained down by programming codes and facing some interesting conflicts in their higher cognitive functions given the fact that their bodies' unfulfilled demands to be locked to the DNA of a proper master were weighing down on their thoughts, but they were all very good people underneath it all. All constructed as physical and mental replicas of real people — which, in Zeiwanite eyes, would mark them as "personality replica" units; such would heighten the overall expense of their creation quite considerably beyond even the ₹100,000,000,000 price quote she had made to Aziz Pujari minutes before. Clearly, whoever had paid for their creation — not to mention the 220 unawakened units in storage in the main cargo bay of this craft — was quite a wealthy person even by the standards of the natives of the planet Uru.

What that person's ultimate purpose was, though…

Hefting the Staff, Mizuho directed a tiny bolt of energy into a nearby computer terminal, allowing the ancient Sagussan weapon to link into the corvette's main memory banks to get at things like the ship's flight logs and security logs. A holographic image then appeared before her as one particular scene from a time shortly after the full activation and awakening of the gynoids aboard this craft played out:

_"Why must you erase our memories of you, Lara?" _

_"You're aware of what that old idiot Uday did to Shunran's and Mayhan's mothers?" _

_A nod in acknowledgement. "Yes." _

_"Since that fool wants sons so badly, he'll see the existences of his daughters as an affront to the honour of his House." Here, Skelad Lara snorted. "Not that his family — much less all the other Houses of the Round — have much in the way of honour in the first place, being led by_ men _for so long!" Scorn dripped from her lips on her mentioning the word "men." "I've seen the truth now. Given that the true ruler of the Empire is a woman this time, it's time for the_ **smarter** _gender to work for an Imperial Restoration that will be ruled with common sense, not testosterone-charged idiocy!" _

_"So what is our function, Lara?" Azu Kakazu — a replica of a young battlewagon captain whose Imperial leanings were known, though she didn't shove such beliefs into people's faces — then asked. "How can we assist you in your quest to restore the Empire?" _

_"You will all serve as surrogate guardians to Shunran and Mayhan. Once that twit Uday and his moron son Tayoru are eliminated, they'll become the joint heads of the House of Renning. Others I've moved to protect will replace the current heirs to the other Imperial Houses over time. Once the dead flesh is cut away, Lum will be declared Empress and the Restoration will happen. But to ensure it happens, Shunran and Mayhan have to be kept safe. That is your_ **primary** _function, Kazu. Do you understand?" _

_Kakazu nodded. "I understand…"_

Mizuho waved her fingers to eliminate the holographic screen as she allowed herself a moment to reflect on that information. That this Skelad Lara woman wanted to restore the old Urusian Empire was understandable; many of the Urusians now aboard the great _Haida_ at this time such as Uio Toma had wanted the same thing deep down. That Lara clearly saw that a female-lead Empire stood a greater chance of acceptance amongst the masses of that world and her colonies was not relevant at this time. What WAS relevant was the fact that this corvette — a ship about double the size of a CSV-194 Star Flare shuttle; the Yashi-class ships were the largest warp-capable space-faring craft in the Urusian Defence Forces that were capable of landing on a planet — was now racing headlong into the solar system, where there were over four dozen warships deployed and on guard to protect their home planet. Given the several incidents over the last two weeks concerning incursions in Earth's claimed space…

_**Controller, there appear to be no tracing mechanisms aboard this ship which would alert Skelad Lara as to any changes in the disposition of this vessel's crew.**_

Mizuho hummed. "Security through obscurity, you mean?"

_**Affirmative. As you know, Renning Shunran and Renning Mayhan wanted to go visit one of the children's fairs in the city of Onishuto on Uru. As children their age are encouraged on Uru to behave independently, they were given a star boat by this vessel's crew to allow them to go there. I suspect that their being infected with the Hifuto virus occurred when they were on Uru, most likely at their father's instigation.**_

"This would be before the purges the Lady Captain Negau launched?"

**_Most likely._**

She sighed. "Well, once the Great Emperor is informed of what happened to the young girls, she will relay that information to the Lady Negau immediately. I doubt that Master Uday will survive such a revelation, either physically or spiritually." Mizuho then took a deep breath. "What do you sense of the women active on this ship now?"

_**They detected the tracking beacon from the star boat 4.7 hours ago, Controller. As they were programmed, they are now moving to track down their charges before they come to harm; they trained their charges into signalling them once they detected the corvette's own tracking beacon in return…which they did not do this time. They are also aware of recent galactic events concerning Earth; Azu Kakazu — who commands this ship — understands that there are considerable unknowns awaiting them. But given her primary operational programming, she — and all the other gynoids on this vessel — is prepared to do all possible to keep Renning Shunran and Renning Mayhan safe and sound.**_

"And once Lord Ataru is made their master?"

_**Moroboshi Ataru will then be able to override all operational programming restrictions now enforced on the gynoids aboard this ship and allow them to live their lives as he would desire them to do.**_

"I see," Mizuho whispered with a nod as her pale blue eyes teared. "Forgive me, dearest Ataru. I know you wish to turn away from what the presence of the Great Emperor and the Earth Angel within your mind for so long unleashed upon you and made you do many times unto others. Still, I know you will do all to help these poor women free themselves of the horrid chains that weigh down upon their bright, innocent souls. In doing that, I suspect that you'll be able to ensure yet another attempt by the Dark One's followers against the people of Earth and Avalon will be stopped in its tracks…"

With that, she raised the Staff…

* * *

The pilotage…

A burst of light and energy flooded the windows and main view screen with blinding luminescence, making the eleven women on the platform slung under the main hull of the small corvette cry out as their optical systems were nearly overloaded. A second later, the light faded as the gynoids' visual functions restored themselves, revealing to all of them that their ship was now in orbit over a planet!

"What in the Maiden's Names…?!" pilot Azu Toge exclaimed.

"What just happened?!" Azu Kakazu demanded from the captain's chair in the middle of the pilotage platform. "Karu, scan around us!"

"Just a moment, Kazu!" Azu Kakaru stated as her fingers flew over the science officer's main control board. "Doing quick triangulation of ship's position now!"

"Ship's cloak is activated, Kazu," Bren Luan reported from the chief engineering officer's station near the aft end of the pilotage. "Cloak is stable."

"Should I deactivate?" Toge asked.

"No," Kakazu stated. "Not until…"

"We're over Earth!"

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"**_What?!_**" Kakazu exclaimed as everyone stared wide-eyed at Kakaru.

The amber-eyed woman with the reddish-blonde hair in a bob cut at the base of her neck tapped controls before indicating the main view screen. "We're in orbit directly over the town of Tomobiki in Japan; the bow is currently angled due south," she stated. "Current altitude: Five hundred kilometres above Earth's mean sea level. Whoever or whatever brought us here was able to shift us out of warp, put us into parking orbit and engage the cloaking device…" She then breathed out, "No doubt because of that rather large starship that is now in parking orbit directly over the Imperial Palace in the Chiyoda Ward of Tōkyō."

"On main screen!" Kakazu ordered.

A control was pressed, revealing a wedge-shaped craft in haze grey, possessing well-shaped superstructures above and below the main hull, that topped with two racing sail-like masts above the hull and one mast below. The ship's hull ended in two large ramjet-like exhausts for what clearly were warp drives of some sort; secondary engines were fitted at the aft end of the lower superstructure. A bulge on the side of the hull had launch tubes for what could be some sort of point-defence fighter, with fore-and-aft landing decks at the ends of the bulges. Multiple three-barrel gun turrets bristled over the hull, those augmented with smaller gun turrets and large anti-ship missile cells on the superstructures covering every arc of fire. A large executive shuttle landing deck was on the upper aft superstructure, with four separate hangars built into the hull ahead of that. To top it off, the flag of Japan was painted on the main hull aft of amidships, the Earth Arabic number **24** in black-shadowed white was at the bow and the characters for **YAMATO** in white hiragana symbols was at the aft end of the main hull.

The gynoids now on the bridge of the corvette were taken aback by such a sight as their minds drew upon the memories that were carefully cultivated from their templates to thoroughly analyze what was now not kilometres off their port bow. After a minute, Luan — a studious-looking woman with brown eyes behind reading glasses (she really didn't need them, but her template had been nearsighted, so she had been equipped accordingly) and long red hair tied in two thick French braids that went to her hips — whistled. "I wouldn't want to face that type of ship in a fight," she stated.

"How is it possible that the Terrans have such a vessel?" Del Ula — a somewhat tomboyish woman with long, wavy silver hair partially held down by a headband and smoky grey eyes that the other gynoids on the ship thought were sexy beyond belief — asked from the communications station. "Their base technology is nowhere close to supporting something like that!"

"What about what the Avalonians seized from their former masters?" Kakazu wondered.

Ula hummed as she gazed on the _Yamato_. "No. Even if they did decide to create a ship whose base design wasn't copied from Urusian designs as was done in the past, it's far too soon since the Liberation to allow such a ship to be completed." She then paused. "There is one other possibility though, Kazu. There were rumours filtering through the Noukiite news-nets over the last few months that two of the five hundred Terrans kidnapped by the Ipraedies over the last decade — after they escaped captivity — found an abandoned spacedock that once belonged to the race that created the Avalonians in the Den'sha system."

"Which is hazardous space for normal ships to travel through," Kakazu stated as her own caramel eyes — she also wore glasses — widened in surprise on hearing that. If such a find had been made by any of the races of the local cluster, an all-out, no-holds-barred war — which would normally be called a "cosmic scramble" as friend would automatically turn against friend in that sort of situation — would have broken out to seize such technology. It would be understandable, though; given the evidence of the bioroid factory as revealed to INN after the Liberation, the base technology of the long-dead Fourth Sagussan Republic was estimated to be at least _**five millennia**_ ahead of even the Vosians! "And since our two young shipwrights would understandably view the idea of aliens invading their home planet as something that wasn't desirable…"

"They would want to stop it by any means possible," Kakaru finished.

The others nodded. "Besides, the whole thing about the Non-Interference Treaty was thrown out the airlock with the Tag Race, so there's no sense in complaining about these ships being used by the nations to Earth to defend themselves," Toge noted from her place at the pilot's station. "Especially after what the Lady K'ekhech and the Lady Negako revealed was buried in the Tomobiki Ginza some months ago."

"Stupid _relav'sh_!" Ula snarled. "What in the Maidens' Names was Ōgi thinking?!"

"He was a dictator, Ula," Mith Soran mused from the weapons officer's station. "There's no retirement in the dictatorship business. And given how his particular castle was built on such a shaky foundation as Avalonian slavery…"

The others nodded. "So we're in orbit over the city where Lum's replica lived for six months before the truth behind her was publicly revealed thanks to the Lady K'ekhech and Lord Nengmek'i," Kakazu recapped. "We were brought here using a clandestine approach, no doubt to make sure ships like _Yamato_ didn't blast us apart before we could declare peaceful intentions. As is known, the area between the orbit lines of Mars and Ceres is littered with more sensor units than are deployed on ALL the frontiers of the Urusian Union. The Noukiites are keeping close watch over this system under the auspices of an imperial commandery shielding Earth from outside invasion. The Yehisrites and the Yizibajohei are also keeping an eye on this system, with the Vosians most likely soon joining them. We now have seen with our own eyes that the Terrans are acquiring the means to defend themselves with the assistance of the Avalonians. Speculation, all of you: Why were we brought here?"

The others considered that for a moment, and then Toge blinked. "To meet Moroboshi Ataru and/or his siblings," she stated.

"Substantiate that, please," Kakazu bade.

The young-looking woman with the dark grey eyes and the square-cut black hair at mid-neck smiled. "It's the only logical explanation, Kazu. Yes, Ataru used his powers under the Tag Race Treaty to declare all Urusians _persona non grata_ for the next two hundred years in the wake of what was discovered by his sister the Lady Negako and the Lady K'ekhech when they came here to prevent the Niphentaxians from taking Earth hostage. As is known, there was no move to stop that from the Urusian government due to their policy of appeasement towards the Niphentaxians. However, we are Zeiwanite gynoids even if almost all of us are Urusian-form. We wouldn't be forbidden from visiting Earth, I believe. And given that the Avalonians — who are _**bioroids**_ — are effectively all AIs themselves, I believe we would be welcome within the Moroboshi home."

"We were brought here to allow Ataru to become our master?" Ula wondered.

A nod as everyone on the bridge fought down a surge of excitement and anticipation swelling from their hearts at the idea of having a true master to be bound to after three years of operating without one. "I believe so. After Ataru and the Lady K'ekhech broke up, it was reported on INN that he met with the Creator herself, who is a former galactic elementary school classmate of Lum's. I suspect the Creator offered gynoid companions to Ataru to allow him to not be so alone in the wake of such a breakup." Toge then smiled as her eyes glittered. "As we are companion gynoids with our loyalty locks configured only to allow us to have a man as a master…and our mysterious benefactor clearly having not located a potential master for us…" She then shrugged.

The others considered that for a moment, and then Ula sighed. "What about the fights between Ataru and Jariten when he was living here?" she wondered. "I don't think we'd want to expose Shunran or Mayhan to something like that."

"Those fights occurred because Jariten effectively was orphaned after his flame-breath powers developed and he fully came to understand his mother's loathing of all arsonists because of what happened to his father," Toge stated. "Shunran and Mayhan were raised by us after their real mothers died and they were placed in our care. Neither of them would pull some of the foolish stunts that Jariten did when he was in Tomobiki."

"Yes, we have done our best to make them understand that there are certain things that can't be tolerated even from children. Especially when dealing with less-advanced cultures," Kakazu stated with a touch of pride in her voice — the caring and raising of Renning Shunran and Renning Mayhan was their primary operational command, which they had obeyed without question — before she stood. "And Hitora has warned us that we can't really operate properly without our loyalty locks secured for much longer. I think that given those circumstances — and the fact that Ataru will be familiar with gynoids like us — Hensō's 'darling' seems to me to be a potentially wonderful candidate to become our master and owner."

The others nodded as relieved grins crossed their faces. Their not questioning Kakazu's declaration was understandable, of course. The original Azu Kakazu had been the darling of the Urusian info-nets before Redet Invader acquired that position, being one of the youngest officers in history to become a battlewagon warlord. She died two years ago in a ground car accident, long before the Imperial Round had made a fatal mistake in instigating an attack on Earth through the Central Warp Chamber on Triton, only to have its forces brutally cut down by Moroboshi Tariko and Hayashi Kanami. The current Kakazu knew her template had been a moderate when it came to politics; she would have supported an Imperial Restoration but would also have worked to ensure the true lessons of the Union Revolution were never forgotten and the common folk forced once more into serfdom, stripped of even their House names! Because of that, when they had been activated, Kakazu's spiritual "seniority" — only Kakaru's template had become a battlewagon warlord; she had been killed in the recent purges — automatically saw her placed in the role as ship's mistress; since they were all gynoids, they didn't see themselves as worthy of using military titles.

"We shouldn't overwhelm him all at once, though," Soran warned.

"Agreed," Kakazu stated. "Myself, Toge, Luan and Hitora. Karu, you have the Conn."

The others nodded…

* * *

Tomobiki, the Moroboshi dōjō, a half-hour after sunrise…

Moroboshi Ataru had known for years that he was cursed with weird luck.

He had been born on the thirteenth of April in 1993. According to his mother, that day fell on a Friday and also was a Butsumetsu day. Negako later debunked the whole story as a bonus seventeenth birthday present; that particular day had been a _**Tuesday**_…and since the Moroboshi Clan had always followed a version of Taoism as their core religion regardless of what a "stupid city-slicker" like the former Yamaguchi Kinshō might believe in, whatever day in the _rokuyō_ that particular day fell on didn't ultimately mean a thing. Yes, there HAD been a small earthquake that day, but not anywhere close to Wakkanai where Ataru and his twin brother Kaeru had been born. When asked why Kinshō had made herself believe that stupid story in the first place, Negako concluded that since she was so desperate deep in her heart to get her precious Kaeru-chan back — impossible since his body had disappeared shortly after he had expired — she wanted to do anything to drive the perceived cause of Kaeru's loss (Ataru) out of her home.

Ataru then — in front of the small group of invited guests to the birthday party — asked his father, "Why the hell did you marry this selfish idiot in the first place, Otō-san?! Didn't you listen to a damned thing Obā-san warned you about her?!"

Of course, Kinshō didn't take too kindly to being called _**that**_ by her own son in front of people like Miyake Shinobu; she and her husband had almost been barred from actually attending the party in the dōjō building since they had been so abusive to Ataru in the past. Before she could do anything to reprimand her son — only in genetics at that time; the legal issues had been decided just after the attack of the Konton pirates weeks before — Negako calmly broke both her lower arms, then nearly crushed her throat with a knife-hand chop, which put her into the hospital for a week. That, as Kinshō feared, allowed the Hayasaka sisters Asagi, Torako and Fūka — who all had huge crushes on Ataru's father — the chance to spend some quality time with Muchi without his nagging wife getting in the way.

Naturally, when she got home, Ataru, Tariko and Hiromi heckled their mother about that for a week to make sure she understood that she had no power over them whatsoever.

_To believe she was almost about to fully reform herself…!_ he mused to himself as he focused his ki into the heart of his body. _Then Shikuko and Miyako came into my life…not to mention Miwaka, Mioko and Takara into Hiromi's life!_ He smirked. _Wait until Baka Kā-san finds out about Tariko, Shinobu-chan and Kanami-san…!_

He then perked as a teleportation beam echoed from the exercise yard.

Looking up, he watched as four beautiful twenty-something women appeared about three metres from the dōjō's main entrance. All four were aliens, three Oni-Urusians and one Zeiwanite. All were fashionably dressed in Earth-like clothing, though the Oni wore orange tiger-striped button shirts below their white business jacket-like tunics and over their black wide-bottomed slacks. The Zeiwanite wore the standard mixed colours of blood red and dark blue divided by a white stripe in the middle indicative of the united government that rose on her home planet after the Atomic Wars two centuries ago. That girl had the beautiful sparkly bronze-gold skin of her people, with bright rose hair that flowed in gentle cascades to her shoulder blades and blood-red eyes like Oyuki's. The Oni leader — at least, she seemed to be the leader to Ataru — was a tomboyish girl with close-cropped raven hair and caramel eyes behind reading glasses. She had a kinsman who appeared to be twenty or so, possessing square-cut black hair at mid-neck and dark grey eyes. The last of the four was a slender girl with brown eyes — also behind reading glasses — and long red hair tied in two thick braids extending from the backs of her head behind her ears to her hips. On seeing that, Ataru tried not to wince. _That must be a pain to wash…!_

Wait!

What the…?!

His eyes then widened as their ki signatures came to them.

_Oh, my…!_

"Oh!"

That was the youngest-looking of the four gynoids — Zeiwanite, far more advanced than the Type 29G units that had accompanied Chara of Kutzei to Okusei that day in early February when she had been contacted by Lum about building new companions for her sister's ex-husband; in fact, they were practically the same as the Terran-form gynoids encountered in Tomobiki just after the Liberation, which made them Type 33Gs — who had just beamed down from whatever ship they had come in on. Looking at her, he tried not to smirk on seeing her cheeks turn an interesting shade of crimson. "Toge, are you alright?" the Zeiwanite-form girl asked.

"I'm alright! I'm alright!" Toge yelped as she waved her arms up and down. "I just…wasn't prepared to note how handsome Ataru-sama was in person!"

Grateful that these girls were speaking Japanese — no doubt, they had either a proper language pack programmed into them or they had been fitted with a universal translator system — Ataru chuckled, which made the newcomers perk. "Try not to go into a cascade failure, Toge-san, please! The nearest tech that could handle you is on Zeiwan!" He then focused on the native-looking gynoid. "Unless you beautiful sister here…!"

She blushed a deep bronze-brown on hearing Ataru call her "beautiful." "I am fully programmed in both first-line and second-line care for my sisters, Ataru-sama. If you're not familiar with our specific model, we are Type 33G companion gynoids. Our overall cognitive capabilities are over ten thousand percent greater than the Type 29Gs the Creator no doubt had with her when she met you on Okusei some months ago."

He nodded. "All of you are Chara's creations?"

"Hai!" all four chanted with pride.

He laughed. "Well, any 'daughter' — so to speak — of one of Lum's best friends is always welcome in our house. C'mon in. Take your shoes off in the genkan, please."

The newcomers all beamed. "Please forgive us for disturbing you!" they all chanted politely as they came up to the door, slipped off their shoes and walked in, bowing to the spirit of the dōjō as they did that. They then sat seiza in a row in front of him.

"So, first: Introductions," he then bade. "You obviously know who I am, of course!"

"Naturally!" they chanted before the leader of the group introduced herself, then her friends. Once that was done, Azu Kakazu then took a deep breath, impressing Ataru by the sheer realism of her organic emulation programming. "Much that I realize you didn't expect us coming here, Ataru-sama, we were forced here by means unknown just minutes ago from a place close to Spotakite space — not near Den'sha, of course — where we've based ourselves since our initial activation three years ago. That was because two young girls we are programmed to care for as nannies and surrogate mothers — who had gone to Uru to visit a children's fair at Onishuto they wanted to attend — were headed in the direction of this solar system, yet had not contacted us like we taught them to do whenever they came in communications range with our ship. Now, noting your personal experience with Jariten, I should say that it is allowed for young children on Uru to travel on their own without supervision…and I believe that my sisters and I did a much better job in raising our charges than Jon did…"

"Rather, what she _didn't_ do with the poor guy," Ataru dryly muttered. "So what led from their returning from this fair to you girls being forced here?"

"We detected their star boat's general identification beacon 4.7 hours ago," Toge answered. "Now, that wouldn't normally seem to be a problem, but Shunran and Mayhan — that are their names, Renning Shunran and Mayhan; they're half-sisters — have been, as Kazu just said, instructed to contact us the instant their star boat's ECM gear picks up our corvette's identification beacon. They didn't do that in the time after we first detected them, even after we tried to hail them. We…feared the worst."

Ataru nodded. "Well, that's not…" He then paused. "'Renning,' you said? Any relation to Lum's adopted sister Negau?"

"Fifth cousins; they're the daughters of the just-deposed head of House Renning, Uday," Kakazu stated. "He's responsible for the deaths of their mothers when they were babies. Our mysterious benefactor — and none of us can answer the question on who that person is as that information was either purposefully erased from our minds or never programmed in the first place — wanted to make sure Shunran and Mayhan were raised in a peaceful and loving environment, away from radical Imperialists like their father."

He sneered. "I heard of that jerk; Negau was pretty snarly about him when I asked her why she had been adopted by Lum's parents. Just a sec'…" He reached over for his dataPADD and turned it on. As the gynoids waited — though Bren Luan, given her position as the chief engineer of the corvette, was clearly curious about the touch-screen, quartz-like device — Ataru typed out a name on the search screen. A moment later, he smirked. "Well, not dead, but rotting away in the space prison at Katte." That was the Class C planet that was the outermost world of the Oniboshi star system; the prison there wasn't as harsh as Hichkyech'eng, but had quite the ugly reputation in its own right. "Multiple counts of murder and attempted murder, including wives and mistresses, not to mention several children he was believed to be the father to." He scowled. "You fuckin'…!" He blinked as an alert icon flashed. "Huh?"

Silence reigned as he tapped that and allowed a new window to appear on the screen. Once he took a moment to digest the information there, he sighed. "Well, I got good news for you girls," he said as he stared at his guests. "Shunran-chan and Mayhan-chan are currently aboard the I.N.S. _Ujjayini_ as we speak." As the four women gasped in delight on hearing that, he held up a hand. "It got close, I'm afraid." As their breaths caught in their throats on hearing that, he added, "They were in terminal stage from Hifuto when they came into the system. Fortunately for them, a strange woman known to the Indians as the 'Fire Maiden' intercepted them, extract their souls from their bodies in meson crystals, then got uninfected samples of their DNA over to the _Ujjayini_ so clone bodies could be made. They'll be woken in a couple of hours."

Hearing that, all four girls looked ready to break down and cry. "We should have sent someone with them!" Hitora hissed. "Someone who wouldn't be known to their father!"

"Stop it, Tori!" Kakazu stated. "You'll protest yourself right into a cascade failure if you're not careful." As the Zeiwanite-form gynoid huffed at the other woman at being reminded of something so fundamentally simple as THAT, the corvette mistress hummed. "Standard incubation time for Hifuto is seven to ten days. Most likely, the girls got caught just before Negau launched the purges." She sighed. "We could have lost them…but we didn't. And now that they're going to be Avalonians, they'll be protected far more than we've been able to do to date. Besides…" A smirk crossed her face. "Uday's in the brig in Katte right now. He won't come out of there anytime soon."

"We still must fulfil our primary function, Kazu," Luan warned.

"Of course." She then gazed on Ataru. "Ataru-sama, thank you so much for telling us the news about Shunran-chan and Mayhan-chan." She sighed. "And — much that I hope you don't view this as any sort of imposition — there is one small problem…"

"Loyalty locks that were programmed, but not engaged?" he asked with a wry smile.

Kakazu jolted before she chuckled. "You are as smart as Milan Domo reported you were when she interviewed you on Okusei," she stated. "You must enjoy doing that."

"If people can't really open their eyes and view the world around them, Kazu-chan, I can't help it if they get caught up when something clashes with their worldview." He then sighed. "Well, how many girls are we dealing with altogether?"

"Including us, twenty-two. There are 220 others in storage, but deactivated."

Ataru blinked. "What for?"

"That was never programmed into us in the first place," Hitora stated with a shrug.

He hummed before reluctantly nodding. "Okay, here's what we'll do. We'll go aboard the ship, then I want you to pilot it beyond the Moon's orbit and go to Lagrange Point Two, opposite from where the bioroid factory is. I'll transform into the Cyborg, then use my power to probe into your ship's computer to ensure no hidden surprises there. Once we're clear and safe, we'll get started." He swept up his dataPADD as he got up…

* * *

A half-hour later…

"Onii-san! Are you awake?! Onii-san!"

Opening the door to Ataru's bedroom, Moroboshi Hiromi looked inside. She was quick to note that the room was neat with the futon rolled up and set off to one corner. There was no sign of her brother, though. A quick glance towards his work table revealed that his dataPADD was also gone. "Onii-san…?" the reborn emperor of the Hàn whispered as she walked inside before noting there was a folded piece of paper on the desk. Walking up to it, she perked on noting that hers and Tariko's names had been written on it.

Picking up the note, she moved to open it as Tariko leaned inside. "He was in the dōjō for a bit, then left," Ataru's true twin stated. "There were four others who came into the dōjō, but I couldn't tell who or what they were. They…"

"Gynoids."

Tariko blinked. "Huh?"

Hiromi held up the note. Her sister walked over to join her so they could read it:

_Tariko and Hiromi,  
By the time you read this, I'll be up in space aboard a cloaked corvette piloted by a group of twenty-two Zeiwanite Type 33G sex-droids built by Chara-san's people who've been serving as the nannies/adopted moms of two orphaned Oni girls Jariten's age. Get this: The girls are Negau-san's cousins and the daughters of that slime bag Uday who banished her from the House of Renning because she didn't support the Imperial Round. Turns out that the girls got hit with Hifuto and they blundered into the system where the_ Ujjayini _was performing systems trials. They're safe — this mysterious "Fire Maiden" girl that's been popping up in places all over India was involved — and are now being turned into Avalonians by the ship's medical team; you should be getting some word on that from Thompkins-shōshō pretty soon, Hiromi.  
Anyhow, here's the cute part of all this: The sex-droids were all activated three years ago and programmed with the standard loyalty locks…but the damned locks were_ **never** _engaged in the first place! Even better, they were all programmed to only accept a man as a master under those circumstances. Guess what that means?! *smirk*  
They all seem pretty okay to me; I didn't feel anything really off with their ki. As soon as I get them under control — *rolls eyes* — I'll scout around to see who had them built in the first place and find out why the hell this idiot allowed twenty-two nice girls who wouldn't hurt a fly to operate without secured loyalty locks! We remember what Chara-san said about that sort of thing, ne?  
Anyhow, I'll probably need the whole morning with these girls if not the whole damned day, so tell the Principal what's happening.  
Ataru_

Both women blinked on absorbing that missive, and then Hiromi sighed. "It simply doesn't want to stop, doesn't it?" she whispered, shaking her head.

"Well, there's no choice, especially when we're dealing with alien-built sex gynoids coming to Earth who don't have loyalty locks engaged and need a man to engage them," Tariko noted with a smirk. "Lucky thing for Ataru that Shikuko's not the jealous type…especially if the girl in question is gorgeous."

"Would these poor unfortunates be beautiful?"

Ataru's twin laughed. "Hiromi, you saw those girls Chara had with her! Don't you think that building UGLY sex-droids would make any sort of business sense?!"

The reborn emperor hummed. "True…"

"Papa!"

Both turned as Hiromi's daughter Arami came in, carrying the reborn emperor's BlackBerry smartphone. "Someone called in?" she asked.

The young girl nodded as she handed the phone over. "Tomoko-nēchan from _Haida_."

Hiromi took it, then tapped controls to initiate a return call. A moment later, a voice called out over the speakers, "Onē-sama, is that you?"

"Yes, Tomoko-chan," Hiromi called back. "What's the problem?"

"Have you been told about the Niphentaxian-form Zeiwanite android that was holding thirty of our sisters captive that we retrieved late last night our time?"

Hiromi nodded. "Young Master Sunmee, yes. Mayumi-chan told me about him. How is he?"

A sigh responded. "He's in a very bad way, Onē-sama," Honda Tomoko called back from _Haida_. "As Mayumi probably told you, he's endured ten years of having his soul suppressed by inhibitor caps that were stacked one atop the other every time he showed any sort of independent thought." Another sigh echoed over the speakers. "We really think we can't revive him and hope he can live his life with any sort of normalcy. Even making him one of us — never mind the problems about gender reassignment — may not help him. I was hoping that we could ask your friend from Zeiwan — as he was first built there — to come here and look him over to see if she could do something to help him before we revive him."

"Chara-san, you mean?"

"Hai."

Hiromi hummed…before she paused as she glanced at the letter in her hand. "Twenty-two…" she whispered before exchanging a knowing look with Tariko.

"Twenty-two what, Onē-sama?" Tomoko asked.

The reborn emperor jerked. "Never mind, Tomoko; I'll explain this later. We may have a solution much closer in hand than Mistress Chara. Have whoever is monitoring Master Sunmee call me at four o'clock my time today. I'll have more information then."

"Hai!"

The link was cut, and then Hiromi handed Arami the BlackBerry so the latter could take it back to her parents' bedroom. "Do you think one of those girls Ataru's going to take care of might be programmed as a maintenance tech for them all?" Tariko wondered.

"Since they obviously were going to be alone for a while, it would make sense," Hiromi mused. "In the meantime, I best wash up, then I'll call Acharekar-taisa to get an update on those two poor girls. Their spirits would be considerably brightened once they know their caregivers are here and in Onii-san's caring hands."

Tariko laughed…

* * *

Meanwhile, out in space…

The cloaked corvette pulled into a hover orbit close to United States Joint Forces Station Benenson, the only former Niphentaxian space factory unit that had been placed at Lagrange Point Two, opposite the Moon from the bioroid factory and Earth beyond. There was a reason for this; recognizing immediately that the chances were there that — either by accident or on purpose — alien contagions could be unleashed on Earth, it was decided by the United Nations and its member nation-states that a safe and secure place to analyze such diseases away from Earth itself had to be established. USJFS Benenson — named in honour of a doctor in the United States Army Medical Corps who had been assigned in the 1950s as liaison officer to the Biological Warfare Laboratory at Camp Detrick in Maryland forty kilometres north-northwest of Washington; then-Lieutenant Colonel Abram S. Benenson was today seen as the man who founded the ancestral organization of his namesake space station's primary tenant unit — was designated for just that purpose.

While the station had an international staff, both civilian and military, it was the only one of the 506 space factory satellites seized by the Avalonians as war booty to fall under the control of the military of any of the nations of Earth; all other stations were civilian-controlled under the auspices of agencies like NASA. In the case of USJFS Benenson, administrative command and control was vested in United States Strategic Command through its Joint Functional Component Command for Space headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base in southern California. Command and control of internal station operations, however, was vested in the United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command at Fort Detrick — the post was upgraded from camp status in 1956 — in Maryland, directly exercised by that formation's most well-known research unit: USAMRIID, the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.

"Kazu, there is a large cargo shuttle now leaving Benenson."

Kakazu turned to see the beautiful winged craft — a United States Air Force V-96S Star Flare, she now knew from getting the chance to be briefed on the ships and aircraft now forming the hardware elements of the United Nations Earth Defence Force and all the national components contributing to it — slip out of the station's main hangar and soar off into space. "Current heading of the Star Flare, Soran?" she asked.

"Towards Frontier Sector 61, where _Ujjayini_ is," Mith Soran reported. "No doubt, this is the field team being deployed by USAMRIID to decontaminate Shunran's and Mayhan's star boat so that the flight logs can be analyzed." She tapped controls to call up biographical information. "The current officer in charge of USAMRIID Detachment Benenson is Lieutenant Colonel Pierre Alexandre of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He's on the American Senate's short-list for promotion to colonel for fiscal year 2011, though he's made noise about wanting to stay on Benenson; if he's promoted, he'll be probably reassigned back to Detrick or elsewhere. Fifteen year veteran of the Army Medical Corps, an expert in infectious diseases, graduate of USMA West Point and the University of Chicago Medical School. It says in personal notes he lost a friend, Captain George Westphal, to the Ebola virus six years ago during an outbreak in the Congo."

Kakazu nodded. "It's personal to him. He'll be cautious about dealing with the virus particles on the star boat; he'll make sure his subordinates do the…"

"May I ask who's tapping into my personal bio?"

Both women gasped on hearing that man's voice with its very lilting Creole accent, and then they exchanged looks before Kakazu nodded. Soran then tapped a control to allow the image of a slender yet well-exercised man of about forty years of age to appear on the small screen before her, possessing dark yet wise eyes and properly-cut red hair. He was dressed in Army Combat Uniform with appropriate formation badges — not to mention parachutist wings, Kakazu noted with a nod in approval — and appeared to be in a private office somewhere. His annoyed look then transformed instantly into surprise on seeing the image of the two Oni women before him before confusion crossed his face for a second…and then he laughed. "You must be two of the gynoid guardians of those two young girls infected with Hifuto that the _Ujjayini_ just picked up!"

Kakazu and Soran gaped, and then both women blushed. "We are, Colonel Alexandre…and I apologize for taking a look into your personal biography, but — given our primary operational programming — I wanted to make sure the people who were helping investigate what happened to Shunran and Mayhan were the best type of personnel available," the former then declared. "We're currently aboard our ship, a Yashi-class corvette that's now in cloaked orbit close to your base station. Moroboshi Ataru — whom we came in contact with a half-hour ago at his home in Japan — insisted on it."

Alexandre nodded. "As he is the brother of the Director of the United Nations Earth Defence Force — not to mention the only person in history to have _**returned**_ the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to him by the Commander-in-Chief because he felt he hadn't completed the mission forced on him last summer — I'm sure Mister Moroboshi has the best intentions at heart. Before you ask, the chief medical officer on the _Ujjayini_, Surgeon Commander Bhuinya, was able to mind-probe your charges after their souls were downloaded into their new bodies; that's how we know about you ladies." He then gazed on Kakazu. "I assume I'm speaking to Captain Azu Kakazu."

Kakazu demurely smiled. "Colonel, please. I don't claim the rank…"

"Ma'am, you're what's called a 'personality replica' gynoid, right?"

She nodded. "Yes."

The American officer smiled. "Ma'am, as far as those two little kids are concerned — at least from what Indra Bhuinya told me; we worked together once some years ago — you and your sisters are as human (or however you Urusians call it) as everyone else. Yes, you have gynoid bodies…but you have human souls underneath it all. You know about the Avalonians, right?" At Kakazu's nod, Alexandre smiled. "When we all got the big wake-up call about the Avalonians — hard to ignore that call when over a thousand starcraft appear in cislunar space around Earth one afternoon…not to mention learning about the thousands of Avalonians living amongst us at the time of the Liberation! — well, the whole debate about seeing them as sentient beings no different than we Terrans was resolved in about thirty seconds. Besides, given that Miss Shunran and Miss Mayhan have been forced to become Avalonians, your sisters who were built as replicas of their late mothers will have to become Avalonians as well."

"Why is that, sir?" Soran asked.

"It's a medical necessity," he answered. "Avalonians form what is called a _shirei'cha_ bond with their children when carrying them. It's not as strong as the _marei'cha_ bond couples form when the time of the month hits them, but it's a necessary thing to help in the child's development, especially before the Awakening finally hits before the start of puberty; that's when the _shirei'cha_ bond fades. That's why a lot of the hybrid kids that came with their mothers to Earth were in such bad shape mentally after the Noukiites and Yehisrites rescued them; their former 'masters'…" — you could coat the pilotage deck with the scorn he produced on saying that word — "…went out of their way to try to sever those bonds. So for Miss Shunran's and Miss Mayhan's sake, Ms. Numon and Ms. Meiya have to become Avalonians. And since the rest of you are pretty much those kids' adopted aunts, it's only fair for all of you."

Kakazu and Soran exchanged looks, and then the former sighed. "It is fulfilling our primary operational programming," she then declared as the latter nodded her approval. "Colonel Alexandre, if you wouldn't mind, we'd like to accompany you to the _Ujjayini_ so we can look in on Shunran and Mayhan. We have something we need to deal with ourselves before we do that, though; it's a problem with operational programming conflicts inside our heads that started to become apparent to us some months ago. It hasn't really degraded our operational abilities, but it may start doing so sometime soon…and I don't know if that sort of thing will carry over into our new bodies as you just proposed to us. We'll need about four hours to resolve those issues."

He nodded in understanding. "We need that much time to prepare the equipment to clean out the star boat your charges were in as soon as we're aboard, so we're taking a slow trip to the _Ujjayini_. Why don't you fall in alongside us right now?"

"Alright. Dara, you overheard him?"

"Yes, Kazu," Redet Dara — a tomboyish silver-haired Oni with grey eyes — said from the pilot's station; as she was the one who had first concluded that they had been brought to Earth to meet up with Moroboshi Ataru, Azu Toge was the first gynoid to have her loyalty lock issues dealt with by him. "Moving to pull alongside the Star Flare."

"De-cloak the ship once we're alongside. Colonel, are you on the Star Flare?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Please inform the pilot of the craft that an Urusian Yashi-class corvette will de-cloak on his starboard side in five minutes. We don't need to alarm the flight crew."

"I'll tell him that right now."

* * *

Meanwhile, inside one of the corvette's bedrooms…

"So…was Milady pleased?"

An orgasmic groan escaped Azu Toge as she rolled onto her back. "Oh, Darling…that was so _wonderful_!" she moaned out before gazing upon him, her grey eyes misty with thankful tears. "I've dreamt so many times of when a master would take me and make me his…but NOTHING I've ever dreamt of compared to what you just did for me!"

"I always aim to please, especially when it's a pretty girl that needs the pleasing," Ataru coyly stated as he moved to draw her into his arms, then pulled the covers over their naked and sweating bodies; as she was designed from the start to disguise herself as a real person, Toge's body had been fitted with artificial sweat glands that activated whenever her internal mechanisms needed cooling down. "How are you inside?"

Toge concentrated for a moment as flashes of light danced over her eyes. "Full internal diagnostics show no problems. The small operational conflicts because of an unsecured loyalty lock have been removed from my central processors. Little energy loss in my reserves even after you made me orgasm five times." She coyly gazed at him. "Are you _**always**_ that good, Darling?"

"According to my current girlfriends, I am. Kyech — you know her as Lady K'ekhech — thought the same way, as did a bunch of girls from Yiziba…" — he was quick to note with a nod of approval that Toge hadn't reacted to his mentioning _that_ particular planet's name — "…who came to visit Kyech sometime after Morningstar Plain." He kissed the side of her neck under her ear, which made her shudder with delight. "Atop that, part of my family martial arts includes a series of tantric forms called the Gojūni Sanji. It's ki manipulation on your nerves — which, even if you're a gynoid, you have — to stimulate your brain's pleasure centres to elicit an orgasm. For a virgin — which, in a way, you are — it also helps with the breaking of the hymen, since that's always very painful."

She nodded before sighing. "You want us all to become bioroids, don't you?"

"You _have_ to become bioroids, Toge."

Toge looked confused. "Why?"

"For Shunran's and Mayhan's sakes," he stated, which made her instantly tense. Noting she was paying full attention, he then explained about the _shirei'cha_ bond concept.

After that was done, she nodded. "Well, there's no choice…and it effectively would be fulfilling our primary programming concerning them," she stated before gazing at him. "But can we still be lovers after I become an Avalonian, Darling?"

"I think we can do that. After all, once you're organic, the nesting instinct will hit you sooner or later. Especially if you get yourself a bond-mate." Concerning _that_, Ataru knew there was one potential candidate to become Azu Toge's perfect lover now on _Haida_. That would have to be carefully arranged to ensure that Toge and Aruka Riyu would be able to come together without any problems; he knew that Riyu hadn't experienced the time of the month with Arimori Kei, the would-be pilot who had been ordered by Dean Raeburn the previous Thursday to "take _**personal**_ charge of" Riyu and "square her away"…which, in the way-old military school the air cavalry officer was trained in, meant that Kei was supposed to provide what Avalonians called "intimate therapy" to Riyu, who had been heartbroken over learning what the real Azu Toge — now bound for Hichkyech'eng — was like. "And when you feel ready to start a family, if you want…"

"You'll be the father of my children?!"

_Damn! Eager one, isn't she?!_ he mused as he kissed her forehead, which made her smile. _Well, as soon as she's organic, she'll calm down somewhat!_ "Hai…but I hope you understand I'd like to wait a few years before becoming a dad."

"I understand." She then sighed; much that she wanted to snuggle with him for as long as he desired, there was business that needed to be done. "So, who next?"

"Numon-chan and Meiya-chan. Since they're effectively Shunran-chan's and Mayhan-chan's mothers, the sooner they're ready to accept becoming bioroids, the better."

"Hai!"

Both got up, slipped on housecoats and slippers, then headed out of Toge's cabin. That was located close to the main cargo hold where 220 other Urusian-form gynoids were being held in storage, having never been activated since they had been taken from the factory in Kutzei on Zeiwan. Watching over them now was Hitora, who was doing the regular basic scan of their inert systems to ensure all was well and that no damage had been accumulated by their bodies even if they had never seen any real day of life. Pausing at the open doorway to the cargo bay, Ataru stopped to gaze on the stacked rows of shatter-proof transparent aluminium cylinders holding their beautiful, sleeping cargoes. Like the girls who were active on the corvette already, all the sleeping gynoids were conservatively dressed in slacks, shirts and tunics. Naturally, as they WERE what were euphemistically called "sex-droids" by other people, there wasn't an ugly woman in the lot; all of them would make many men and some women drool with envy at their sexy looks. Also — much to Ataru's surprise — almost all the girls in the cargo bay that he could see looked as if they were in their late teens and not the twenty-somethings the active crew appeared to be.

Why…?

"Ataru-sama, is there something wrong?"

He blinked, then walked over to draw an arm around Hitora's waist, allowing her to rest against him. "What can you tell me about these girls, Tori-chan?" he asked. "They all seem younger than even Toge-chan appears to be. Why is that?"

She sighed. "As you know, none of us were programmed with information concerning why these girls were built. I was programmed to ensure they were ready to be activated…but that's it." Hitora frowned; she didn't like the idea of not giving a full answer to her future master and owner, but she was restricted by the gross _lack_ of information in her own memory concerning these sleeping gynoids. "However, over the last three years, we all identified that they're physical replicas of real women on Uru."

"So you know their names and all that, right?"

"Hai. Several of them are replicas of the daughters of some prominent businesspeople on Uru. This one here…" — she indicated a very coquettish yet shapely Oni woman appearing to be about eighteen years of age, with wavy luminescent green-blue hair to mid-back and dark blue eyes which now were dull with inactivity in her brain — "…is Skelad Lara. The real Lara is the daughter of Skelad Slan, the fifth richest man on Uru…"

"He _was_ the fifth richest man on Uru," Ataru cut her off. "He was killed by Negau's people because he was an under-the-table supporter of the Imperial Round." He hummed as something then came to him. "Toge, do you think that Lara's family would have been wealthy enough to afford to have all of you built and this ship purchased, fitted with a cloaking device — I know that's not standard kit on an Urusian warship — and provide for other things to help raise Shunran-chan and Mayhan-chan?"

Toge hummed. "By themselves, no, Darling. But as Tori just said, some of these other girls here are replicas of daughters of other major industrialists who are as wealthy as the Skelads, many of whom were swept up in the purges and either killed or jailed. The chances are there — if your theory is right — they teamed together to make all of us possible." She then blinked. "You mean…?"

"It's just a theory right now, Toge. We need facts. Tori, what are you doing now?"

"Just the standard systems analysis of these girls," Hitora replied.

"Toge, are you programmed to help out in that?"

"We all are, Darling," Toge answered.

He nodded. "Okay. Tori, I'll handle your loyalty lock at the same time I take care of Numon and Meiya. Toge, watch over these girls, alright?"

"Hai!" both gynoids chanted before Ataru walked Hitora out of the room.

Toge watched them go, and then she turned to gaze on the main monitor board. Noting that there had been no anomalies developing in those part of her sleeping sisters' bodies that had been scanned already, she sighed…before her eyes then locked on the replica of Skelad Lara.

"No…!"

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) A **Sari** is a strip of unstitched cloth that ranges from four to nine metres in length that is draped in various styles and patterns over a woman's body. This is a popular mode of dress for women in the Indian subcontinent. Saris are normally worn over a petticoat and blouse. The **Banarasi Sari** is a specific model of sari that is common to the ancient city of **Varanasi** in the state of Uttar Pradesh on the banks of the Ganges River. As an aside, Varanasi is considered the holiest of the **Sapta Puri**, the seven holiest cities in Hinduism.

2) **Zoroastrianism** — sometimes called "Mazdaism" — is believed to be one of the oldest monotheistic faiths still active on Earth; certainly, it ranks probably second to Judaism. Its primary deity is **Ahura Mazdā**, from whom all good (known as **aša**) flows and who rules Heaven. His opposite number is **Aŋra Mainiuu**, from whom all evil and destruction (**druj**) flows. The first scriptures of this faith was written by the prophet and sage **Zaraϑuštra Spitāma** (also known as "Zoroaster"), who is said to have lived centuries before the birth of Christ (historians have postulated that he lived somewhere in the period between the Eighteenth and Sixth Centuries B.C.E.). Zaraϑuštra is perhaps best known these days as the inspiration for the tone poem _Also Sprach Zarathustra_ ("Thus Spoke Zarathustra"), written in 1896 by **Richard Wagner** (1864-1949) for the philosophical treatise of the same name written by Wagner's contemporary, **Friedrich Nietzsche** (1844-1900). The initial fanfare of the song — called "Sunrise" — was the theme music for the 1968 film _2001: A Space Odyssey_ and its sequel. Zoroastrianism is said to be a dying faith — according to one recent _New York Times_ article, the actual number of worldwide adherents range between 190,000 and 124,000, mostly centred in the city of Mumbai in India — because, so it is believed, its adherents do not do as Christians and Muslims do and proselytize to spread the faith; any sort of forced conversion to the faith is forbidden in the holy texts. In the universe of this story, with the arrival of many Avalonian-Indians and Avalonian-Iranians, the native Zoroastrians found it within themselves to open up their **fire temples** — this is their primary places of worship — and welcome the Space Angels amongst them. Thus, the actual numbers of Zoroastrians across the planet — like other endangered ethnic groups — is on the rise.

3) A **Bodhisattva** (literally meaning "enlightened existence"), in Buddhism, is a being that is on the cusp of achieving true enlightenment and internal liberation from the wheel of suffering to achieve Nirvana; at this point, one is considered to be the literal equal of the Buddha himself. In the case of **Inada Mizuho** — given the sheer power the **Staff of Gihan** grants her — she is able to perceive things beyond the mere physical to the metaphysical and the divine. Of course — even if Mizuho wishes to become a Zoroastrian — she is respectful of other faiths, thus has earned respect from them in return as Aziz Pujari demonstrates.

4) The city of **Haridwar** in the Indian state of Uttarakhand is another of the Sapta Puri in India. This particular city was introduced to me via the PBS documentary _No Borders, No Boundaries_, which was a companion-piece to the _Tribute_ tour of the **Taj Mahal** at Agra in India and the **Forbidden City** at Běijīng in China carried out by the Greek-American new age composer **Yanni** (born **Giannis Chrysomallis** in 1954), which he performed in 1997. What struck me about this particular city was the ritual done at the **Har Ki Pauri** temple on the banks of the Ganges River known as the **Ganga Aarti**, which is done every **_evening_** at sunset by lighting torches to drift on the waters of the mother river of India downstream; this particular ritual was prominently shown in the PBS documentary mentioned above.

5) Translations: **Seifuku** — The "sailor suit" uniform often worn by female Japanese students in middle and high school; **Yashi** — A word combining both the _kun'yomi_ and _on'yomi_ reading for "arrow"; **Land of the Han** — Nickname for **Korea**; ₹ — The official symbol used in India for the **rupee** (in other nations using this particular form of money, the symbol is **Rs**); **Relav'sh** — A word that can't be translated that is seen as the most vicious insult in the Urusian language; **USMA** — United States Military Academy, located at **West Point** on the Hudson River in New York, which serves as the Army's officer training academy.

6) The **security through obscurity** idea was first introduced to me through the _Harry Potter_ fan fiction story _White Knight, Grey Queen_ by **Jeconais**, which can be read at the Fanfic Authors website. This is the first fanfic I ever read that depicted the character **Pansy Parkinson** in a very positive light; this is one of the stories that influenced my own _Icemaidens_ series and the _Wizards and Avalonians_ side stories to _Phoenix From the Ashes_.

7) _The Senior Year_ character notes:

**Azu Kakaru** was a minor character in the _TSY_; she first appeared in the side-story "Tripwire." I created the character of **Azu Kakazu** in this story as a sort of positive counterpart to Kakaru, who — as noted above — was a fanatic and racist supporter of the Imperial Round and its goals.

**Chara** was a minor character who appeared in the story "Darling's Other Girlfriend."

**Milan Domo** is a minor character who appears throughout _TSY_ whenever we needed an intergalactic reporter for a certain scene. I based her on the character of **Minor Domo** from the _X-Men_ comics.

8) The **Cosmic Scramble** concept was first introduced to me in the 1986 _Star Trek_ novel _Battlestations!_ (ISBN 0-671-74025-3) by **Diane Carey** (born 1954). I later used this concept in the _TSY_ story "Great Father Ataru Stage Six: Auction," where the space navies of the local powers actually gathered at Den'sha Two to seize the lost Sagussan fleet that had been there since the days of the War of Clone Rights 14,000 years ago.

9) The whole argument concerning about when Ataru's birthday falls has always been something of an in-joke in _Yatsura_. It was established in canon that his birthday — 13 April — fell on a Friday. This day also was a **Butsumetsu** ("death of Buddha") day — Butsumetsu is seen as the unluckiest day in the **Rokuyō** ("six brilliances") that indicate which sort of luck a person would experiences that day; it's from the _rokuyō_ that the word **Tomobiki** ("pulling friends") was derived — and an earthquake happened that day. In the original manga series — which began being published in 1978 — Ataru's birth year was given in 1967…but 13 April fell on a **_Thursday_** that year. It should be noted that since _Yatsura_ really was set in a timeless loop — look at all the times Setsubun was celebrated when it was established in the final storyline that the whole period of the manga stretched for just over a year! — the whole argument concerning the exact events of Ataru's birthday was something Takahashi-sensei just tossed out to emphasize the weirdness of his luck (remember that the name "Moroboshi Ataru" is a pun that literally means "to be hit by a falling star"). Hence, my comments here about Negako debunking the beliefs Ataru's mother had concerning what happened on the day her son was born.

10) As noted before, **Redet Jon** is my name for Ten's mother. As to her obsession concerning arsonists, the explanation I use here — where Ten's father was killed in a deliberately-set fire when he was a baby — is my creation.

11) The name **Oniboshi** is my name for Uru's home sun. As many know, this word was also the term for Lum's home planet; the word literally means "planet of the Oni." However, in _The Senior Year_, Mike Smith and I decided to use the name **Uru** for the planet itself, deriving that from the first part of the series title, which is a kanji pun that combines the term _urusai_ ("obnoxious") with the kanji _sei_ ("star"/"planet") to replace the _sai_ part, which gives the word _Urusei_ the direct meaning "planet Uru." Combining that with the term _Yatsura_ (a slang term for "people"), the series title could mean "Obnoxious People" (or "Those Obnoxious Aliens" as AnimEigo always translated it) or "People From Planet Uru."

As an aside, the name **Katte** comes from the one-shot story _Katte na Yatsura_ (most often translated "Those Selfish Aliens"), which was first published in 1978 before Takahashi-sensei began work on _Urusei Yatsura_.

12) The character of **Pierre "Alex" Alexandre** comes from the 1996 Tom Clancy novel _Executive Orders_ (ISBN 0-399-14218-5).

As an aside, here are some notes concerning the American military formations mentioned here:

**United States Strategic Command** (**USSTRATCOM**) is one of the nine Unified Combat Commands of the American armed forces. Headquartered at **Offutt Air Force Base** in Nebraska, USSTRATCOM is responsible for space operations (such as military satellites), information operations (such as information warfare), missile defence, global command and control, intelligence/surveillance/reconnaissance, global strike, strategic deterrence (the United States nuclear arsenal), and combating weapons of mass destruction. The command was formed in 1992.

The **Joint Functional Component Command for Space** (**JFCC SPACE**) is the sub-formation of USSTRATCOM which is responsible for ensuring freedom of action in space and preventing adversary use of space against American national interests. To do this, the component optimizes planning, execution and force management — as directed by the commander of USSTRATCOM — for assigned missions of coordinating, planning, and conducting space operations. As noted above, this organization is headquartered at **Vandenburg Air Force Base** in southern California west-northwest of Los Angeles.

The **United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command** (**USAMRMC**) is the Army's medical materiel developer, with responsibility for medical research, development, and acquisition and medical logistics management. It is headquartered, as noted above, at **Fort Detrick** in Maryland near Washington, with five subordinate units located at the post, including…

The **United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases** (**USAMRIID**, pronounced "oo-sam-rid"), which is the Army's main institution and facility for defensive research into countermeasures against biological warfare. This is the only laboratory in the American Department of Defence which is equipped and authorized to study highly hazardous viruses at Biosafety Level 4 within positive pressure personnel suits. As noted in _Executive Orders_ — in that story, Pierre Alexandre once worked at USAMRIID — this organization would coordinate with the **Centres for Disease Control and Prevention** (**CDC**) in Atlanta when it comes to any sort of infectious disease outbreak anywhere in the United States. Also, USAMRIID also deploys investigators to collaborate with personnel from CDC, the World Health Organization and major biomedical and academic centres worldwide to help in infectious disease research.

As an aside, a **camp** in American Army terminology indicates a temporary post to serve as a base for field units. When the camp is made a permanent installation, it is then upgraded to **fort** status.


	5. Silent Strike by the Cyborg

Sector 61 between the orbits of Mars and Ceres, aboard H.M.C.S. _Haida_, Materialiser Room Six (Toronto time: Monday 12 July, after sunset; Tōkyō time: Tuesday 13 July, two hours before lunch)…

"Please! That wasn't necessary!"

"I'm afraid that Commander Tai insisted on it, Captain. Welcome aboard."

A blushing Azu Kakazu found herself smiling as she stepped off the materialiser pad to take Brian Gamblin's hand in her own. When she had been beamed aboard _Haida_, a full side party for a visiting navy captain had been mustered, commanded by CPO1 Jacques Beaulieu. Also present was a review guard of would-be infantry soldiers from the 1st Battalion of the Canadian Guards under the command of CWO Marc Duchesne, all with C7A2 rifles in hand as they presented arms to her. "Thank you, sir," she said in English — one of the several Terran languages she had been programmed to speak from the start given that Urusian fascination concerning Earth was almost as great and as deep as what Niphentaxians had felt about that world for years — as she let go his hand, and then she waved to the small party that had come aboard with her. "You, of course, know Moroboshi Ataru," she noted with a grin and a twinkle of amusement in her eyes.

"Who on Earth _doesn't_ know him?" Gamblin said. "Good to see you again, son. And thanks for finding these girls and getting them over to us."

"It had to be done," a flustered Ataru — who, in the sharp eyes of a certain regimental sergeant-major, had the same sort of healthy glow to his face that a young soldier always displayed after a nice night out on the town — muttered under his breath.

"**_MOM!_**"

Before anyone could react, two typhoons of pure kawaii flew into the arms of Kuk Numon and Pog Meiya. As everyone tried not to gush at the sight of Shunran and Mayhan being cuddled by their mothers, Ataru turned to wink at the beautiful woman in the work uniform of a surgeon commander in the Indian Navy. "Nice work, ma'am," he whispered.

"Thank the Fire Maiden, whoever she is," Indrani Bhuinya stated with a smile of her own as she gave him an understanding look. "I only pray to Vishnu that poor girl will be finally relieved of whatever burden forces her to remain masked from us all."

He nodded. "Kazu, I'm going to my personal quarters to rest up a bit," he then told Kakazu, who had just been introduced to Laxmanrao Acharekar by his opposite number from _Haida_. "It's on Deck A12 Aft, the third port cabin from the forward end."

"Do you want someone to be with you, Ataru?" Kakazu asked; all the gynoids had been instructed to not call him "Darling" when they were in the presence of other people.

"I'll be fine," he promised. "Besides, you have something to do." And with that, he nodded to the smiling Shunran and Mayhan in the arms of their mothers.

She nodded in understanding. As he headed out of the room for the nearest turbolift station, Beaulieu and Duchesne exchanged knowing looks…

* * *

Deck A12 Aft on the port side, a half-hour later…

"Onii-sama, here's some Gatorade for you."

Ataru lightly smiled as he held out his hand. "You are a true angel, Seina-chan," he said as he gazed in amusement at Yamaguchi Seina after taking the bottle of the offered energy drink and opening it. "How are things with you?" he asked.

She sighed. "Drill and pre-BMQ classwork when we're not busy doing what we'll be doing full-time after we get out of trades training," the would-be steward confessed before she gave him a knowing look. "Don't punish yourself over what you had to do for those girls, Onii-sama. Yes, it was technical rape, but you had no choice in the matter."

"Still doesn't make it right, Seina."

"Could you explain what happened to us, son?"

He sighed. "If Onē-san was here, she'd give me hell for not noticing you come in, Sergeant-major."

"Indeed I would."

Ataru rolled his eyes. "Please, Onē-san! I've had a rough morning!"

"But a well-exercised one, even if the situation that provoked your being forced to engage in sexual intercourse with Shunran's and Mayhan's caregivers is morally quite reprehensible by Terran standards," Negako stated as she stepped out of the shadows, moving to sit down in front of him. Marc Duchesne and Jacques Beaulieu took their own seats off to one side as Seina stepped out of the room. "Most curious that this girl who brought Kakazu and her friends to you does these sorts of things."

"Madame Moroboshi, do you agree with General Raeburn's assessment of her?" Duchesne asked.

Negako shook her head. "I do not. This woman is an unknown and I loathe dealing with unknowns, Marc. However, she clearly realizes that she cannot remain on Earth for more than several hours at a single location; I could then sense her through the ley lines and comprehend who she is." She frowned. "Fear is such a destructive emotion. Still, I do agree with the general assessments on this person those such as Luna Lovegood and Aziz Pujari have made about her. Yet she welds an object with nearly the same energy levels as Deannette's Power Jewel. That would concern anyone, especially given her youth and the tragedy she and her friends endured before they came into our reality."

"Dimensional travellers? Time travellers?" Ataru wondered before sipping his drink.

"Both are possibilities. Again, I have not been able to closely analyze her ki signature through the ley lines to fully ascertain her origins."

"She would gladly reveal herself, I believe, Lady Negako," a strange voice then called out. "It is the reaction of her friends that holds her back."

People turned as Aziz Pujari stepped out of the shadows, having teleported himself aboard _Haida_ from _Ujjayini_. "Then we must hope her friends ultimately see reason," Negako stated as the Hindu cleric took his own seat. "Or that she brings herself to a location close to either myself or Deannette so we can gain the chance to directly analyze her."

"She would want it, I believe. From what my friends and I've sensed of her, the Fire Maiden looks upon our world as we live in it as a new and safe home for her and her friends," Aziz stated. "It disturbs her that she is forced to mask herself from everyone."

"We'll just have to wait it out, then," Duchesne stated before gazing on Ataru. "How are you, son? The girls on the ship were pretty worried about you."

A wry smirk crossed the younger man's face. "I was just forced to rape twenty-two innocent women, Sergeant-Major. There was no choice BUT to rape them. The loyalty lock system guaranteed that!"

"What's that for, anyway?" Beaulieu wondered.

"It's meant to prevent android or gynoid theft…though I'd call it 'kidnapping,'" Ataru explained. "It's keyed to the owner's DNA as transmitted through one's sperm or vaginal discharge. You do the horizontal Macarena with the android or gynoid in question, their security systems register the DNA in question and the lock engages. NOT doing that eventually forces the android or gynoid to start asking a question: 'Am I with the right master?' Asking that question again and again in their heads eventually starts badly interfering with their normal operating functions. If it's not corrected in time — which depends on how well they're programmed — they literally worry themselves into a cascade failure, which puts them into a mechanical coma. Getting them OUT of the coma is often more expensive than buying a new unit, so…" He shrugged.

"Oh, heavens!" Pujari spat out. "Is it normal for them to be programmed to bond with potential owners of a single gender on that world?"

"Normally, yes. As to why Kazu and her friends were keyed to have a man as their master…" Here, Ataru snorted. "One of several questions I have about this mess. Another one I've got is this: Why the hell did whoever sponsored their creation erase the information of who they are — or never programmed it in the first place — from the girls' minds? They were based in a remote part of space that's seldom accessed, especially by Urusians. The chances of that bastard Uday finding Shunran-chan and Mayhan-chan there were simply next to zero; the only way that slime could kill his daughters was when they were on Uru…like they were before they came here. Why hide who was helping protect these girls from their moms and aunts?"

"Who on Uru could afford to have Kakazu and her sisters created?" Negako wondered.

"Well, Skelad Slan seems the first candidate; a replica of his older daughter Lara is on that corvette right now," Ataru explained. "Some of the other big moneymakers on Uru have daughters who have replicas on that ship as well. I got Tori to compile a list of names so Toma, Tai, Riu and Kiu could look at it and tell us what their other-selves are like."

"You wish to use the Cyborg's power to probe those gynoids to learn what they might know of their templates' current intentions, if they have any," Negako stated before nodding. "A wise precaution, especially given how your transforming into that form harms Hiromi when she is in close range to you. I will inform Heather of this before we proceed. In the meantime, place yourself in a meditative trance. I will have Hensō and Naoko come here to be with you while I perform a general analysis on Kakazu's other charges."

He nodded. Everyone soon cleared out of the cabin, Negako closing and locking the door behind her. After Pujari parted from them to return to the _Ujjayini_, they headed to the turbolift landing at the forward centre of the deck. "Any normal man would brag beyond belief on getting such a big group of beautiful fembots like those women as his personal sex slaves," Duchesne noted with a frown.

"Marc, remember: We're talking about the only man in history who actually _**returned**_ the Order of Canada to the Governor General after he came to realize that he hadn't finished the mission he was forced to perform last summer," Beaulieu stated before he turned to Negako. "Was that the only reason he did that, ma'am?"

"No, Jacques. Our family — as the silent servants of the Imperial Family of Japan — have always believed that the successful completion of whatever mission was set before us was the only reward that was required. In other words, it does not serve our purposes to have our actions advertised by the bestowing of medals and decorations as was done to Ataru after the Tag Race," Negako explained as they moved to board the turbolift to head to Sick Bay Flats. "Besides, returning those medals also included returning the financial gifts the various world governments gave to Ataru in conjunction with those medals. That annoyed Kinshō quite greatly."

"Didn't that woman spend all the money beforehand?" Beaulieu asked as the car doors closed behind them. "Sick Bay Flats!" he called out.

"No, she could not," Negako stated. "In one of the few positive things he did during the time he believed himself legally blocked from interacting with Ataru, Yumoa Reigi — he is the chief of operations for Toranoseishin Finances in Tomobiki — had all those funds placed in a special bank account that could not be accessed by anyone until Ataru came of legal age. He explained to a representative of the Imperial Palace Agency that Kinshō was doing all she could to keep Ataru ignorant of his family obligations. A call to His Majesty had the funds locked away from all outside access. When she was told this, Kinshō was most put off. That ultimately began the process by which she moved to prompt an early marriage between Ataru and Hensō which culminated in the agreement made by her and her husband with Hensō's parents aboard the _Kashin_ during that incident with Elle in December. Doing that — or so she personally hoped — would force whoever was holding the funds back to free those funds up since Ataru would 'require' them at that time…though she intended to embezzle those funds as soon as she could possibly do so."

The others nodded as the turbolift arrived at the landing leading into the hallway that went past the main entrance to _Haida_'s medical station. Stepping out of the car, they noted that the twenty-two gynoids that were — by Zeiwanite law — Ataru's property were waiting outside the main doors. Numon and Meiya were holding their daughters, allowing Shunran and Mayhan a chance to sleep after a hectic day that started with their near-deaths thanks to Hifuto, being rescued by the mysterious Fire Maiden, being given new lives as Oni-form Avalonians and being reunited with their adopted mothers and aunts…who were now waiting for their chance to become organic. The others were quiet as they gazed on their charges, the relief they now felt at Shunran and Mayhan being alive and well quite obvious to all.

Azu Toge immediately noted who just arrived. "Miss Negako," she quietly called out.

The others looked before they nodded in greetings. Negako made a shushing motion with her hand as she came up to gaze intently at the sleeping children in Numon's and Meiya's arms. As she did that, Duchesne and Beaulieu turned back to the turbolift so they could return to Regulatory Flats and the latter's office so both could finish up their day's work concerning the quartering of the first contingent of soldiers for the First Battalion of the Guards, scheduled to come aboard _Haida_ on Wednesday from Valcartier. After confirming with her ki senses that the two children were alright, Negako gazed intently on the other gynoids for a moment before focusing on Toge. "Come with me, Toge."

She nodded, rising to accompany the ninjutsu grandmaster to a nearby alcove. "Our new bodies are being gestated right now, Miss Negako," she reported, keeping her voice down. "As — at least, as far as Darling concluded — we were designed to take our templates' places if required, there were full DNA records on our templates in the corvette's main computer files; they could have been loaded in special sensor-masking disks we'd wear on our persons. Doctor Cooper and Surgeon Commander Bhuinya were able to use that information to prepare our new bodies." She then shuddered. "I'm nervous."

"You do not wish to feel yourself separated from Ataru."

"Of course not!" Toge declared. "Darling is a wonderfully kind and caring man! Anyone can see that! Much that I understand what your presence and Miss Hiromi's presence in his mind made him do for a decade, especially during the period he was married to Hensō…" A frown crossed her face. "That poor man! He suffered so much…"

"It was ultimately necessary. He made the vow to uphold the Promise when he was six, even if he fully did not understand what was being asked of him. And even if he did often transgress when it came to acceptable behaviour for a person his age in Japanese society, he never engaged in overt criminal behaviour. Yes, the reaction of others to his behaviour — as somewhat provoked by myself, though I was nowhere close to having total influence over his life given the presence of Hiromi and Tariko in his mind — was extreme, but there were considerable spiritual forces in play as well."

Toge blinked. "What other forces?"

"Spiritual Oni who locked in on Hensō — and Rei and Jariten…and, to a lesser extent, Damasu as well — as mortal avatars of sorts. Atop that, there was the sentience of the mana node under the Tarōzakura Hill into which I syphoned anti-ki energy to be used to create my own body hadn't the Avalonian option presented itself thanks to Kyech, Nengmek'i and Ganzo. That sentience — the Memory of Tomobiki as it calls itself — was born from the symbiosis of all the carefree feelings many in that town came to feel about their lives when Hensō began living there. Also, Tomobiki is located at the convergence point of _twenty_ ley lines, so pure, raw mystical and magical power was quite prevalent within the town; that is the reason Tomobiki was given a blanket exception to the clauses of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy by His Majesty after Hensō began living there last summer. It was quite an enormous pool of magic, ki and other forces — which ultimately became self-sustaining — that influenced people's lives during the six months Hensō lived there."

"Was that a good thing in the end, Miss Negako?"

Negako turned as Miyamoto Kasumi came up to join them. "Whether it was good or evil is ultimately not relevant, Kasumi," she stated as Toge gaped in awe at the sight of such an incredibly beautiful woman. "It simply was…and for it to remain as such, nothing ultimately could be tolerated that would threaten its continued existence. That's why the revelations concerning Hensō hurt so many in Tomobiki when the news was transmitted there after Kuohu and Kyekkyek transported everyone back to Earth at the turn of the year. That completely stunned the oni who had locked on Hensō as their mortal avatar; they never suspected the truth about her. The Memory of Tomobiki was badly affected as well; Hensō, for all her faults, was a very friendly and outgoing sort of person…and now, she had been driven away from people who had always revelled in her friendly nature, thus allowing the Memory to grow as an indigenous being. The Niphentaxians observers hidden within Tomobiki were simply devastated; they believed Hensō was their living goddess…but they also understood that Kyech would NEVER lie about something as life-altering as what Zōju did to Lum. That revelation simply froze people in place until the matter with the Niphentaxian battle squadron moving to take Earth hostage in February forced my hand. After the revelations about them were made, most people in Tomobiki found themselves emotionally shattered."

Kasumi nodded. "They believed for so long that aliens were — while strange — not truly evil in the long term. After all, Hensō — who faced off against Ataru in the Tag Race…which meant that if he lost, Earth would have been invaded — moved to Tomobiki to live pretty much as an Earth girl right after she declared he was her husband. Learning that there were aliens out there who willingly held a whole _**race**_ of beautiful women in **_sexual slavery_** — not to mention were willing to plant an _**anti-matter bomb**_ of all things out of some weird devotion to their living goddess — must have hit people in Tomobiki hard."

"It did. And seeing Ataru work so hard to help the Avalonians recover from what they endured as it was displayed on NHK and other networks did not help matters; such violently conflicted with everyone's accepted viewpoint of him," Negako stated. "That made the Cyborg's first public appearance in Tomobiki when the Konton pirates came in March all the more horrifying to Ataru's peers and the other people in Tomobiki."

Kasumi nodded. "A great, dark knight."

Toge gazed on her. "Is that what you see Darling as?"

She nodded. "Yes, I do. I felt it when he appeared and transformed, saving that poor girl from those awful people when they tried to gang-rape her," Kasumi stated. "My ki senses aren't anywhere close to Miss Negako's level, but they were strong enough to feel the power he had all the way from my family home in Nerima, which is east of Tomobiki." She giggled. "That's when Father realized what you are, Miss Negako."

"Oh? And how did Sōun react to learning I was the 'Black Death of the Martial Arts?'" Negako asked with a considerable hint of amusement in her voice.

"He began muttering about you moving to free Grandfather Happōsai from his cave — though I didn't realize who he was taking about at the time — and allowing him to run loose and bring harm to our virtues," Kasumi said with a smirk at the insane antics of her now-comatose father. "Of course, when Akane saw what Ataru did to those pirates, she wanted to go immediately to Tomobiki and apprentice under either him or you to learn how to master that level of ki. Naturally, Father forbade it; it was the only time I could remember him using a Demon Head to force Akane to comply to his wishes."

"Did your father abuse you?" Toge asked, her eyes wide with horror.

"Not in the classical sense of abuse," Kasumi answered. "But he did all he could to constantly guilt my sisters and I into remaining at home instead of moving to make lives for ourselves as would normally happen with people our age. He was ensnared both by his grief at the death of our mother ten years ago…and a dream he had desperately come to cling to since that time about uniting his school of martial arts — which didn't have any legal standing, we learned recently — with a sister school of martial arts his best friend was the master of. Which also had no legal standing, of course."

"Deluded?" the raven-haired gynoid asked with a diplomatic voice.

Kasumi nodded as a regretful look crossed her face. "Very much. Try as we might when we learned the truth about the situation, he just wouldn't bend at all. It came to the point where we were forced to renounce all relations to him, then arrange for the destruction of the dōjō building he had constructed to house his 'school.' That drove him into a coma; he's in long-term care right now at a mental health institution." She shook her head.

Toge immediately moved to hug the taller girl, which made Kasumi gasp before she giggled before leaning down to give the beautiful gynoid a kiss on the lips. "A pity I have a pending bond-mate. I might have been interested in you."

"A pity I was programmed from the start to only have a man as a master," Toge then lamented. "I think you would have made a wonderful mistress for me."

"Well, I would have probably insisted on your becoming a bioroid right away, of course," Kasumi noted as they pulled apart. "Yes, you're programmed to be the way you are, but you're a sentient being to me. I don't feel it's right to be the owner of a sentient being even if she was constructed from the start as a sex-droid."

The gynoid nodded. "Yes, that's understandable. And the 'human' part of me doesn't really like being enslaved, even to a very nice man like Darling. But the 'sex-droid' part of me considers it right and proper…and I think I'll still feel that way about him even after my soul is shifted to a new body." Toge then sighed as she moved to hug herself. "That's why I'm so scared about this. I'm comfortable as I am now…and one of the fundamental foundations of my soul is about to be ripped away from me."

"It will be replaced by a new foundation, Toge," Negako stated. "One as strong — if not stronger — that what will be soon taken from you. Accept it and do not fight it when it occurs. When that happens, you will be able to live your life to the fullest. Which is not only what Ataru desires of you…but Shunran and Mayhan as well."

Toge blinked, and then she smiled. "The Fire Maiden was so wise. How could I thank her for what she did for all of us, Miss Negako?"

"Well, if what I understand of her is true, I believe living your new life to the fullest will be the thanks she'd expect from you, Toge," Kasumi stated.

Toge blinked, and then she nodded…before a voice called out her name. "Yes?" she asked as she turned before noting who was coming up to her.

"Sorry to interrupt you all," Lynn Kennison stated with an apologetic smile. "We're going to take you inside and do some preliminary preparation for the body-swaps, Toge. We've had some experience in allowing gynoids like yourselves become bioroids, so we need to have you in diagnostic mode for the last half-hour before the soul-shift is done."

Toge nodded. "Yes, Lieutenant."

With that, Lynn took her hand and walked her towards the main doors of Sick Bay. Kasumi and Negako watched her go, and then the former smiled. "She's nervous…but she wants it to happen. Both because of Ataru as well as Shunran and Mayhan."

"Your conclusion?" the ninjutsu grandmaster asked.

"She'll be alright…but I'm worried about how Riyu will react when she finds out that a version of her dream girl is now aboard _Haida_."

"You noted that, did you not?" Negako mused. "Deal with the issue, Kasumi."

With that, she headed off. Kasumi watched her go, and then she shuddered with pride and delight on sensing the trust Negako had just bestowed her when it came to helping resolve the issue of Aruka Riyu meeting such a beautiful and friendly version of Azu Toge, the girl the former systems engineer from _Redemption_ had a crush on…only to get her heart broken when she learned the ugly truth of what lurked inside that Toge's heart and soul. And while Riyu accepted that fact, there was still a part of her who yearned for Toge. That was understandable, of course. After all, one never forgot one's first true love.

_Riyu is about to get her dream girlfriend handed to her on a silver platter_, the would-be doctor mused as she headed off to the turbolift station…

* * *

Junior officer's quarters on Deck A6 Forward…

A doorbell chimed. "Come!"

The door swooped open to reveal Kasumi. "Are you busy right now, Riyu?"

The nude pink-haired maritime systems engineer looked over her shoulder before smiling. "No. C'mon in," she bade. "I was just finishing my lecture notes for tomorrow."

Kasumi stepped inside, closing and locking the door behind her. She then turned to look at the pressed and cleaned naval combat dress uniform hanging on the bulkhead near Riyu's bed…before her eyes locked on two noticeable changes. "Oh, my! You got promoted!" she declared as she walked over to gaze on the naval lieutenant's twin stripes (with executive curl on the upper stripe) over a ship's shoulder badge flash. "They're issuing shoulder flashes for all the other ships in the Navy now?" she asked.

"It was just ordered by the CMS today," Riyu stated as she stood up, displaying her own beautiful talent to Kasumi's fascinated eyes. "No fair that _Haida_ has shoulder flashes to go along with her ship's badge on the NCDs and other ships don't."

Kasumi shook her head. The shoulder flash for members of the ship's company of Her Majesty's Canadian Ship _York_ had a white background with the ship's name in dark blue in lieu of dark gold letters on a dark blue background that was worn by members of the crew of Her Majesty's Canadian Starship _Haida_. "That just strikes me odd," she confessed. "Calling your home unit a 'ship'…when it's actually a building on the Toronto waterfront! Why do something like that when it's not a real ship?"

"Weird tradition, true," Riyu said with a snicker.

"So why the promotion?"

"Well, it's a brevet promotion," Riyu stated as she closed off her dataPADD, then moved to prepare a cup of tea for her guest from the small dispenser unit near the door to the bathroom. "I'm still legally an acting sub-lieutenant…but Commander Andrews felt it wasn't right for someone as junior-ranked as me lecturing the new officers and senior non-commissioned members on the ship's systems, so he made a call to _York_ to have me brevetted as a navy lieutenant. I'll still have to do the Naval Environmental Training Program at _Venture_, plus Naval Engineering Indoctrination and Marine Systems Engineering Applications at the Naval Engineering School in Halifax, but that can be held off until there are enough officers who at least know what they're doing on _Haida_ before I could be sent off to be trained and have my rank substantiated."

"That's pretty odd, too," Kasumi said as she sat on Riyu's bed, then nodded her thanks as the latter handed her a cup of Red Rose tea. "Do you want to do it?"

"Actually, I do!" Riyu stated. "Even the former Urusian officers like Tai and Toma want to do their trade courses. Just because they have expertise on how things operate in the Urusian Defence Forces doesn't mean that such would automatically fit in with the United Nations Earth Defence Forces…to say anything of the Canadian Navy." She winked. "Which hopefully will go back to being the 'Royal Canadian Navy' soon."

"That's good."

"Do you need me to sleep with you tonight, Kasumi?"

Kasumi started as the suddenness of such an offer hit her, and then she chuckled. While the Terran part of her soul instantly balked at the idea of sleeping with another woman when she was in a relationship with Sasamoto Narumi, the Avalonian side of her — which had been fully programmed into her mind by Narumi after her body-swap on _Hood_ — realized right away that Riyu had asked that question out of simple friendship and concern; in traditional Sagussan society, sex didn't have the many social taboos it did on Earth. "You know about those gynoids that Ataru met up with a few hours ago at his home in Tomobiki, don't you?"

"Yes," Riyu said as she finished preparing her spiced ginseng tea, then walked over to sit beside her guest. "Narumi and her friends will be up for a while getting those poor girls into their new bodies. Doing body-swaps for Terrans is one thing…!"

"Well, Lynn has some experience helping gynoids become bioroids, so it shouldn't be too bad," Kasumi stated. "There is one interesting thing about that."

"What?"

Kasumi sighed. "Before I tell you, I have to ask this: How do you feel about Kei?"

Riyu smiled. "She's a good friend. We had sex a couple times after General Raeburn ordered her to give me some intimate therapy, but…" She shrugged. "It didn't click in between us, Kasumi. We don't mind it, of course. Kei's so genki…" She sipped her tea. "The girl that lands her will have her hands full with her."

"I hope she gets the right sort. After all, she'll be gone for so long…"

Her host nodded. "Eight weeks for Primary Flight Training at Portage la Prairie. A week of Aeromedical Training at Winnipeg. A week of Basic Land Survival Training, also at Winnipeg. A week for Basic Sea Survival Training at Comox. Thirty-two weeks at Moose Jaw for Basic Flight Training. Sixteen weeks for Advanced Flight Training, also at Moose Jaw since she'll be in the fighter pilot pipeline. Phase IV training at 419 Squadron in Cold Lake for twelve weeks, then twenty-eight weeks of Advanced Fighter Training across the tarmac at 410 Squadron. She won't be back to _Haida_ until late February in 2013." Riyu held up her finger. "Oh, yes! She has to do her university degree along the way…but I hear that several universities across the country are preparing courses over the HyperNet for the officers on the ship to learn from while they're in long term training courses. Not the basic stuff, though."

"I heard the British don't bother with that sort of thing."

"True…and the Canadians once did it the very same way until some idiot got it into his head some years back to demand that all officers have university degrees." Riyu then smirked. "Well, I don't think General Raeburn, General Dover or Admiral Thompkins have their degrees, so why should people like Naoko and Kei be forced to get them?"

Her guest nodded. "Then again, General Raeburn and her friends got their commissions at the start of World War Two, when the military was building up to wartime strength."

Riyu hummed. "Right, forgot about that." She sipped her tea before sighing. "Kasumi, I can tell there's something you want to tell me. What is it?"

Kasumi sighed. "Well, I'm not really sure _**how**_ to tell you this, Riyu." She took a deep breath before smiling. "Riyu, if you had a version of Toge who wasn't a prejudiced monster like the real girl turned out to be, would you seek her out?"

Riyu blinked for a moment, sensing that Kasumi was not trying to hurt her by asking about THAT particular topic, and then she slowly nodded. "I would. She…" A wistful smile crossed her face. "In body, she was so beautiful, so perfect. I…" She shook her head. "I just still can't really understand how someone who is as pretty as she is could be so _ugly_ underneath. To say anything of offering herself to a monster like _**Yethis**_ of all people! He's old enough to be her father…if not her _grandfather_!" She sighed. "I was hurt when I learn the truth about her, Kasumi. I was glad that General Raeburn was concerned enough to _**order**_ Kei to be my lover so I could get over it. But…"

"You can't forget your first true love," Kasumi finished.

"Yeah." Riyu sipped her tea. "Why did you ask that?"

"There's a gynoid replica of Toge in that group Ataru found."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"**_Really?!_**"

Riyu was gaping in wide-eyed shock at what the other woman just said, though she had enough control over herself to not drop her tea cup. Noting that, Kasumi smiled as she reached over to take the tea and place it on the nightstand. "Yes, really. And I had a wonderful conversation with her before Lynn took her in to prep her for her body-swap," she stated before placing her own tea cup down so she could move to comfort the now-understandably nervous Seishin-form Avalonian marine systems engineer. "From what I could sense of her — not to mention what Mayumi briefed us on concerning how their moral programming worked — when the original Toge's memories were loaded into her replica's body, all the bad stuff that might have hurt Shunran and Mayhan was promptly flushed right out of her mind. She turned out to be a very nice person…which is what she had to be in the long term to help raise Shunran and Mayhan, I think."

Taking a moment to consider that, Riyu sighed. "If we met, I'd want it to happen, Kasumi…but what if it doesn't happen between us?" she wondered as her brown eyes teared.

Kasumi remained in place as the other girl silently wept…

* * *

Senior officer's quarters on Deck A7 Forward (Toronto time: Tuesday 13 July, middle of the morning watch)…

"Oh…"

For Tenwan Caril, it had been a wonderful day.

Finally getting a master — and in the former husband of Redet Hensō to boot! — to calm down the growing chants of panic inside her heart and soul about who she belonged to and what she was actually meant to do. Being claimed by said master in a beautiful orgy of sex that took twenty minutes in real time but had felt like a delicious eternity to the woman with the green eyes and the radiant pink hair cut in a bob cut at the level of her chin…and even more so, her beautiful Darling had gladly done the same thing to Caril's best friend/sister, Horan Vanna, at the same time. Learning that the two girls who had been the centre of Caril's life since her initial activation had nearly died because of Hifuto — no doubt, instigated by their monstrous father when he noted that the "living shames" were still alive and defying the will of their Head of House _**by being alive**_! — only to be saved by the intervention of a practical living goddess and a crack team of Terran and Avalonian medical personnel from _**India**_ of all places, ready to give those two girls new lives for themselves. And then, on reuniting with Shunran and Mayhan, learning that the best way to ensure the girls remained healthy…

…was to become an organic humanoid.

Specifically, to become an Oni-form Avalonian.

Taking a moment to absorb that, Caril turned to gaze on her still-sleeping bond-mate. Vanna was one of four Seishin-form gynoids constructed to be aunties for Shunran and Mayhan by their mysterious benefactors. A very genki woman, she had eyes of pure caramel and dirty blonde hair she normally tied up in two high ponytails at the back of her head. The real Caril and Vanna had been best friends when they served together in the Urusian Marine Corps. Both women had been Imperial radicals…which hadn't saved either of them from the deadly purges the angry hordes under Redet Negau's command unleashed in the wake of that stupid attack on the Moroboshi home two weeks ago. And while the gynoid versions of Caril and Vanna still believed that Uru would be better off under a restored monarchy in lieu of the military junta that had run the planet for over two centuries, both women simply had never been able to bring themselves to act like the arrogant bitches their templates had been; their own moral programs forbade such things and it violated their primary operational directive, which demanded they do everything to help raise Shunran and Mayhan in a loving environment.

Besides, Caril's master and owner — whom she still saw as such even if she was now a bioroid and soul-bonded to Vanna; her lover felt the very same way — was Terran.

There was just no way in Hell that either women — much less their sisters — would EVER think of doing anything that would bring harm to their beloved Darling.

"'Morning…"

"'Morning," Caril said as a sleepy-eyed Vanna moved to sit up. "Tea?"

"Coffee," the blonde moaned. "That…"

The pink-haired Oni smiled as she moved to prepare the coffee; she could use a good shot of that stuff as well. "The bonding?"

"Everything, Caril-vayae," Vanna said as she gazed warmly at the woman she would spend the rest of her life with. "Thank the Maidens that we're still bonded to Darling."

"Even if we'll have to hold off on getting him to make us women in these bodies."

"Yeah! Stupid, isn't it?" And with that, Vanna side-somersaulted off her bed to her feet, moving with stunning agility even if her new body was freshly gestated and needed the chance to get the kinks and stiffness out of it. As both women were Urusians by spirit, they had worn tank-top T-shirts — in the white-and-red colours of the Royal Canadian Infantry Corps; such had been provided by one of the stewards from the ship's store — and panties in lieu of sleeping nude. "Amazing what these bodies can do," she stated before gazing concernedly at her bond-mate. "Practice your levitation."

Caril floated into the air, crossing her legs as she allowed herself to drift over to hand Vanna her coffee. "We can do this now," she mused. "We'd have to keep it toned down, of course. You heard what Elaine and Lynn warned us about the xenophobes."

"Yeah. Idiots tried to do a damned suicide run on _Arizona_ when she was being commissioned to blow up the ten tonnes of anti-matter in her warp drive right over the capital city of her namesake state. Stupid!" Vanna sipped her coffee before setting the cup aside, then moved to begin some stretches. "Damn! I feel real good now! Know what I want to do right now?!"

"Go up to Darling's cabin and have him ravage us insensate like he did when he made us his?" Caril coyly mused as she watched her lover work out.

"Other than that, of course!" Vanna said, which made Caril laugh. "But I want to see this ship's gymnasium and hit the weights for a bit. We didn't have to do that while we were gynoids; if there was a problem, Tori was right there to fix us up."

The other woman nodded. "I could use some good exercise, too. So…"

She walked over to the closet fitted to one bulkhead to open it and look inside. She then gaped on seeing the uniforms hanging there. "Combat uniforms — both Navy and Army — plus ship's T-shirts, gym shorts, running shoes and all the other necessities we'd need to live comfortably here. They even had our old clothes, pressed and cleaned."

Vanna smirked. "Well, they need help getting their space fleet operational as quickly as possible, so they'll do everything to entice us to join up." She moved to stretch her arms behind her. "Can't blame them, really. They were deluded so much because of what was going on in Tomobiki when Hensō was married to Darling. When they found out about that bomb and the Avalonians…"

A nod as Caril sipped her coffee. "Agreed. Besides, it feels right to me to go back and do stuff I — well, the other me — had been trained to do. That means becoming an infantry officer. Both of us; Bey and Key, too." The Joth sisters Bey and Key were two Seishin girls whose templates had also been Urusian Marine officers, the equivalent of Canadian Army infantry officers. Unlike Caril's and Vanna's templates, Bey's and Key's templates had been aboard _Redemption_ when she had gone to Yaminokuni…and were now in the hands of the Noukiite authorities, being readied for a lengthy stay at Her Imperial Majesty's pleasure on Hichkyech'eng after a trail before Star Chamber on Tengsei. "So let's go get them up and get to the gym."

Vanna nodded…

* * *

Within minutes, four women were riding a turbolift down to Deck A3 Forward, which was where the ship's gymnasium was located. A two-deck affair with observation galleries at the forward and aft end, the gymnasium was designed to give any of _Haida_'s crew every chance in the world to keep in good physical shape through multiple exercise paths. Thanks to the massive amount of space the starship possessed in lieu of the cramped alcoves on surface warships where things like treadmills and exercise bicycles were placed, the gymnasium had a small oval running track, a pool sized to one-half Olympic standard, alcoves with all types of exercise machines bolted to the deck, plus a small medical station and a clear floor with padding for gymnastics and wrestling practice. It was the presence of this very space inside the Canadian starship that had started up a debate about restoring the military's in-house physical training staff — the Physical Education and Recreation Branch — back to service; that branch had been disbanded in 1997 due to budget cuts, their duties outsourced to a civilian agency affiliated with the Forces.

Fortunately, there was one person in _Haida_'s crew who had been a physical education and recreation instructor before 1997: Petty Officer 2nd Class Henry Carston. And while he was officially a sonar operator these days, the native of Swift Current in Saskatchewan had been more than pleased to agree to become the ship's unofficial resident "club swinger" when he had been assigned to _Haida_; people at Maritime Command Headquarters in Ottawa were still debating over what sort of actual operational mission sonar operators could do on a _**starship**_ of all things when you had naval electronic sensor operators and naval combat information operators available to man _Haida_'s impressive battery of sensory devices and weapons. The well-muscled man — even if he hadn't been in what he saw as his "proper" trade for thirteen years, he was a fanatic when it came to physical fitness — was busy helping a young girl in CADPATs lay out web gear, rifles, helmets and other equipment on the floor near the pool when Caril, Vanna and the Joth sisters walked into the room, all in T-shirts and shorts.

"Good morning, ladies," Carston called out on seeing them.

"Good morning, Petty Officer," Caril answered for her companions. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Well, since we're busy in space helping our Indian and American friends try to understand what happened to your charges, the normal nine-to-five routine gets chucked out the airlock," the Saskatchewan native stated. "How's the gear, Etta?"

"All check out, PO," Henrietta Croce stated as she moved to stretch herself. "Now, if only the others would kindly get out of their racks…"

"What's this about our sleeping in?"

Carston chuckled as a group of eleven women walked into the room, dressed as Henrietta was. "Ready to face your sergeant-major for the first time, girls?"

"Ready, willing and waiting, PO," Iketani Marino answered as she put on her fighting order. A girl with tanned skin like Triela Hilshire, she had shaggy, short-cropped green hair and dark brown eyes; from a distance, she could be mistaken for an Oni. "Let's just hope that our instructors in Saint-Jean and Valcartier are just as good."

The others giggled as they also moved to dress. "So what exactly are their duties?" Caril asked as she gazed on the dark-haired sonar operator.

"They'll be infantry soldiers once they get through basic and trades training, ma'am," Carston replied; he had heard that the gynoids Moroboshi Ataru found were, for the most part, replicas of officers in the Urusian Defence Force, thus he felt it only right to show the proper level of respect. "Eager bunch, too."

"Which is always a good sign. Good morning, Henry."

Save for the former gynoids, people snapped to attention. "Good morning, Sergeant-Major," Carston stated as Marc Duchesne came up to join them, dressed in CADPATs. After the older soldier nodded to the girls to carry on, the ex-PERI added, "The girls are getting kitted up right now. They should be ready to go in ten minutes."

"Excellent." He shook the younger man's hand. "It's also good that you got assigned here. We can't let this beautiful space go to waste," he noted as he took a look around the gymnasium, nodding in approval. "Wonder which of the Little Geniuses put this here."

"It was Ayami-onēsama, sir," Triela answered.

"Thank you, Miss Hilshire. Ladies, would you be willing to join us?"

"If you'll have us, Sergeant-Major," Bey noted, her brown eyes sparking. She was the tomboy of the Joth sisters; her brown hair was short-cropped at the neck while Key had hair that went to her waist (she had it in a thick French braid now).

"I recommend we don't hit them hard at the start, sir," Carston stated.

"Why?" Duchesne asked.

"Sir, their bodies just got out of gestation. They'll be pretty stiff in comparison to Etta and her sisters. If you want, I can take them in hand and run them through the basic drills to see what they need to work on before we get the weapons and web gear out."

The older soldier nodded. "Go ahead, Henry. Girls, are you ready to go?"

"**_YES, SIR!_**" all the would-be infantry soldiers snapped as one.

"On the track; we'll start with a combat run," Duchesne stated.

They jogged over to assume position, carrying their C7A2 rifles at port arms as they formed two ranks of six. "Ladies, would you come with me over to the mats?" Carston asked. "Take your shoes off before you step on them, though."

"Thank you, PO," Vanna called out…

* * *

An hour later, on Deck A12 aft…

The bos'n call echoed through the room as it piped the wake up, which was then followed by the boatswain mate of the watch calling out, "All hands to breakfast."

Moans escaped the three people inside the large bed. "Onii-sama, it's morning," the tired voice of one Takanashi Naoko called out from under the covers.

"I know," Ataru grunted as he shifted the covers away from his body, revealing his former wife and her bond-mate spooned up to either side of him. "I'm really going to suffer for this when I get back to Tomobiki. All these time changes…"

"You're strong enough for it, Darling," Hensō mused before she sat up.

He smirked. "Dōmo. Have to get to work right away, Naoko-chan?"

"Hai," the elder mother of the Avalonians on _Haida_ groaned out as she got out of bed, then slipped on a housecoat. "I'll leave you two be to have some fun." And with a saucy wink, she headed out of the cabin to return to her quarters.

Both of them watched her go, and then Lum's twin gazed down on the man she still loved with all her being. "Were you ever tempted to have sex with any of them, Darling?"

He shook his head. "No. For so long, they were just living machines, not so different than freshly-activated gynoids. Then they got their souls augmented…and they all turned around and adopted my sisters and I as their spiritual elder siblings." He reached up to pull her down to lie against him. "I'm sure when the time comes, many of them will start thinking of me as a potential candidate to be the father of their children. But like I've always said, I'm not ready for marriage or fatherhood now…"

"But you're so good in sex, Darling," Hensō coyly mewed as she reached down to gently fondle him at the nexus between his legs. "I could sense it from Kazu and all the other girls when they went through their body-swaps. You made them so happy."

"Who put them into that position in the first place?"

She considered that for a moment, and then nodded in understanding as she embraced him. Hensō had sensed the self-loathing and disgust Ataru had felt when he had made love to the gynoids who had been the effective guardians of Renning Shunran and Renning Mayhan over the last three years. By Zeiwanite standards — which were pretty much accepted all across the Galactic Federation — what Ataru had done had been legal and proper. Because there had been no apparent positive organic control over those gynoids, they could be seen as abandoned property. Thus, by his securing their loyalty locks, Ataru had claimed them as his own possessions under the timeless law of "finders, keepers." Moroboshi Ataru, however, ran to his own moral standards…which had been heavily influenced with his experience dealing with the Avalonians from the Liberation onward. In his eyes, gynoids like Azu Kakazu were sentient beings no different than bioroids like Takanashi Naoko. To FORCE himself onto Kakazu and her friends had been the most evil act of all.

Fortunately, the time he had spent meditating in this cabin — with Hensō and Naoko at his side, projecting all the love and support they could into him to reassure him all was well and that those he had been made to enslave were now truly free to live their own lives — had given Ataru a focus for his anger and disgust over what had happened.

Deep down, Hensō pitied whoever it was that had started this whole damned business.

In the last six hours holding her former husband and future child-mate, she had come to fully comprehend the deadly monster that now lurked within the depths of his soul.

The Cyborg.

The modern representation of Sagussa's god of death, the Master of Entropy.

A being that emotionally personified all the rage, hate and darkness that had built up deep within Moroboshi Ataru's soul for a decade and more…

…until the day he stood on the Morningstar Plain of Okusei at the side of the Dragonspeaker — who had shown him friendship, love and companionship without asking for anything in return, also offering to take him to a place where the Sacred Promise of Bunka Go-nen could be finally fulfilled and he would be able to have a true family at last — confronting a virtual ARMY of bandits determined to ensure their violent ways could continue by destroying the Flower Youth of Noukiios once and for all.

When he finally came to understand that there WERE monsters in this universe that would do anything to get whatever they wanted regardless of how many others suffered for it.

When he — supported by the three other souls inhabiting parts of his brain who were desperate to finally live their own lives — found it within himself to uncork something that had burned deep within his soul for years, kept at bay only by the horrid conflict of living spirits within his mind that made him act like the trouble-making idiotic pervert many back in Tomobiki saw him as, even his former girlfriend Miyake Shinobu…and especially his own parents, who should have been pleased to have ONE child still alive and well after losing Kaeru like they did when Ataru was only a child of three.

And when it was unleashed…

"Don't let it bother you," he whispered.

"I can't help it," Hensō whispered as her eyes teared. "I never wanted you to go through all those things you faced after Kyech-san and Nengmek'i-sama took you away, Darling. I wanted you to be safe and happy. What's so wrong with wishing that?"

He wryly smirked. "I had other obligations, unfortunately."

She nodded. "Hai, I know. And they were for good reasons. I just still don't understand why some people just can't accept that sort of thing." She gazed up at him. "You could have walked away from Tomobiki once and for all. Negako-san was your legal guardian at the time; you didn't have to bow to those idiots you were born from!"

"We had to give them one more chance," he confessed. "Yeah, they hurt me…but they were hurting all that time because of Kaeru. So we had to give them one more chance…even if they never really clued into what had changed until it was too late." Ataru crossed his hands behind his head. "Okā-san was so desperate to have a normal life. That other part of me, the martial arts skills I got from Onē-san, Onē-san herself, all the friends I made on the bioroid factory…" He grinned. "Didn't compute and it still doesn't compute." He shook his head. "Oh, well…"

The doorbell chimed. "Are you awake, my friend?" an aged man's voice called out.

"Just a moment!" Ataru called out in English as he and Hensō got out of bed.

Once housecoats were slipped on, Lum's twin went over to open the door, revealing a smiling Aziz Pujari. "Good morning, Elder," Hensō said as she gave the proper prayer-like greeting to the Hindu priest from Haridwar. "How are things on the _Ujjayini_?"

"All is well," he said as he returned the salute from the lost child of the stars who was discovering her new place in Creation. "That bright American colonel thinks he can have that star boat cleaned up in a few hours so they can get at the flight logs. They already cremated young Shunran's and Mayhan's old bodies." A shake of the head as he moved to sit down in the lounge close to the bed while Ataru headed into the bathroom so he could wash up and get ready. "To believe such a vicious disease exists! It is the pure power of Shiva and Kali combined, unleashed on those who do not see it coming until it's too late to stop it!" He shook his head. "It is death…!"

"It's always been death, sir," Hensō stated. "People have tried to find cures for it, but Hifuto can't be stopped once it's uncorked. All it does do is that — as it replicates from one generation to the next — it degrades until it becomes nothing more than fragments of RNA that wouldn't hurt a fly. Where does it come from? No one knows…and it's been researched by healers and doctors from Zephyrus to Noukiios and Vos for a thousand years." She then smiled. "At least Shunran and Mayhan are safe now."

"Aye, true." He then perked as Ataru stepped out of the bathroom, dressed now in a black martial arts gi. "She is ready for you in the flight deck, my friend."

Ataru nodded. "How does she feel to you?"

"An innocent child…but trapped and chained down, far worse than those poor women you had to…well…" Here, the elderly priest sighed. "You must assume both aspects of Kali today, my friend. Both the Destroyer…and the Creator."

He blinked…before his left eye began to glow with the crimson fire of the Te'a. "**So I shall be**," he declared in the Cyborg's metal-tinged voice…

* * *

The port flight deck, a half-hour before the start of the forenoon watch…

"**Is she ready, Onē-san?**"

Negako perked on hearing that echoing voice, and then she looked over from the unmoving body of Skelad Lara, currently laid out in the middle of the flight deck on a stretcher sitting on wooden horses. Monitoring the situation was Hitora, joined by Asai Mayumi with a dataPADD, not to mention Heather Thompkins. Noting that her brother hadn't initiated the full transformation into his other self, the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū walked over to him. "She is as ready as Hitora dares make her without actually activating her. Mayumi linked Lara's central processors with the ship's mainframe so that whatever is detected when you probe into her mind will be recorded right away in case there is a self-destruct trigger inside her. I have not detected such…however…"

"However what, Miss Negako?" Hensō asked.

"There IS a mesonium transmitter circuit in the heart of her central processors. From what I could sense of it, it links Lara's mind with the mind of her template."

Ataru's eyebrow arched. "**Really?**" He then smirked. "**Good…!**"

Negako nodded. "Aziz, is Luna calm enough to tolerate Ataru's transformation?"

"She is as ready as I can make her, good lady," Aziz declared. He had arrived several minutes earlier to ensure that Luna Lovegood would be sedated enough to be in such close proximity to Moroboshi Ataru when he would unleash the dark side of his soul; the magical newspaper reporter and naturalist had — even after hearing Heather's and Negako's warnings about how frightfully dark the Cyborg was magically — insisted on being here so she could report what was going on for the next issue of the _Quibbler_.

"Very well. Hensō, stand clear of Ataru."

Lum's twin nodded before leaning up to kiss Ataru's cheek. "I love you."

He smiled. "**I know**," he whispered as she stood away before closing his eyes…

…and then, the cold fire came.

"**_DEATH GOD!_**"

Instantly, Aziz was at the pale-faced Luna's side as he sent a surge of soothing magic into her just as the transformation from man to man-machine was finished and the Cyborg began to advance and kneel beside the stretcher holding Lara's body. As the native of Devon moaned out as she tried to tear her eyes away from such a ghastly sight, the transformed Ataru held up his right arm…which revealed the four characters etched in pure silver against a background of dark gunmetal grey on his phoenix-shaped arm-shield:

**愛****  
****と****  
****事****  
****実**

On seeing that, Luna blinked before her rapidly-pounding heart began to slow down as a beautiful chant in Hindi echoed in her ears. Taking several deep breaths to calm herself down, she then blinked on feeling Aziz's hands squeeze her shoulders in reassurance. "Yes, he is the Destroyer, Luna," the priest from Haridwar stated in English. "But he is also the Creator. He is Kali and Shiva personified. Darkness will be forever wiped out…and an innocent soul freed from slavery…"

Her head shakily nodded. "Yes…the Master comes…the Master comes…"

Noting that Luna was now calm enough so that her actions wouldn't distract him, Ataru concentrated as he allowed a metal probe no different than what Robocop used in the movies to emerge from the upper middle knuckle of his right hand. As it glowed with power, he closed his good eye before moving to gently insert it into Lara's left ear. Watching this, Hitora tensed. "Ataru, is that going to hurt her?" she asked.

"**It's pure ki, Tori**," he promised her. "**There will be no damage. Now…**"

The probe began to slide into the ear canal…

"**_NO! MURDERER! I WON'T LET YOU HURT THEM!_**"

Everyone jolted on hearing that shriek of helpless outrage explode from Lara's lips; as she had been deactivated, the gynoid's blue eyes were open, but nothing else in her body could move. Her shirt was unbuttoned down to her breasts, allowing an access port on her breastbone to be opened up and a fibre-optic cable linked to Mayumi's dataPADD. Because she had been deactivated, no one — even Negako — hadn't expected Lara to scream out like that. "Her systems are actualizing right now!" the would-be ATIS technician warned as she watched the rapid generating of systems code on her PADD screen. "She's feeding on the power Onii-sama is giving her and activating herself!"

"Should it be stopped?" Heather asked.

"No!"

Eyes locked on Luna, whose silver-blue eyes now had a distant look on her face. "_The darkness that nearly claimed those the child of metal-magic was made to love totally consumes the soul of her other-self!_" the magical newspaper reporter moaned in a faint, echoing voice as her Seer abilities surged forth from the depths of her heart and soul. "_The darkness must be burned away by the Herald of the Final Darkness…or the Blood Sickness will come…!_"

Ataru's good eye narrowed on hearing that, and then he took a deep breath through his nose and mouth — making a sound like air being sucked through a wind tunnel — as he sent more power into Lara's brain. "**Lara…don't let your anger hurt you**," he gently soothed…which sounded really strange given the changed airflow dynamics of his mouth. "**Shunran and Mayhan are alive and safe. Your sisters saved them.**"

Lara blinked as her eyes teared. "My optical sensors aren't activating…who am I cyberlinking with…please identify yourself…" she pleaded.

"**You can recognize my voice, Lara. You know who I am.**"

She blinked before surprise crossed her face. "Moroboshi…Ataru?"

"**Yes.**"

Confusion then crossed her face. "Why are you transformed? Are you in danger?"

"**No. I needed that side of me to look into your mind to see what was going on with your other-self.**" A chuckle then escaped him, which sounded like a machine gun firing in the distance. "**I didn't realize your systems would seize on what I'm doing to wake you up.**"

"I don't mind," Lara stated. "At least I'll live something of a life…"

He tensed on sensing the _finality_ of her words. "**Why do you say that?**"

She closed her eyes. "You must destroy me, Ataru. Only in doing that will you protect your people and those you liberated from slavery from what she plans to do."

Negako reached over to squeeze Ataru's still-organic left shoulder. "**Lara, is your template planning to unleash attacks using the Hifuto virus on the people of Earth and the Avalonians?**" she then asked in a voice that echoed with her own frightful power, that making almost everyone save Aziz and Heather gape in shock at such a display.

Lara nodded. "Yes. Who's this?"

"**Moroboshi Negako.**"

A light smile crossed the gynoid's face. "Earth's first true artificial intelligence…I'm glad."

Negako blinked. She honestly hadn't expected _that_ sort of statement. "**Why?**"

"Because — as I just told your brother — you must destroy me, Miss Negako. Destroying me will send an energy surge through the transmitter crystal in my central processors into my template's mind. She…" Here, Lara hissed. "Oh, Maidens! She's prepared to unleash universal Armageddon to get what she wants! She's just so full of hate right now…" A sucked in breath as her body began to move. "Please, destroy me…for all your sakes, it must be done…and tell Shunran and Mayhan…I'm so sorry…"

Another machine gun-like chuckle. "**Well, forgive me for being such a romantic about this, but I can't allow a pretty girl like you to suffer because the woman who created you is such a monster**," Ataru then stated. "**So you'll just have to live, Lara.**"

A pained smile crossed her face. "I'm just a machine, Ataru…"

"**You're far more human to me than most humans I've met, Lara**," he stated before taking a deep breath. "**Admiral Thompkins, we have a credible and proven threat against the United Nations of Earth and the Provisional Republic of New Avalon by Skelad Lara — the ****_organic_**** Skelad Lara, I should say — of the planet Uru. She is prepared to use the Hifuto virus to launch a biological warfare campaign in hopes of demoralizing us enough to allow us to be conquered by the Urusian military once she goads the government there into following her wishes. She knew of the actions Renning Uday did against his daughters Shunran and Mayhan; she saw what happened to them as the perfect first step to initiate said campaign.**" He gazed in amusement at the arch-mage from Québec who commanded the Earth Defence Force. "**She has no idea that we prepared ourselves ahead of time about such things…but if she finds out, she will stop at nothing to batter us and crush us, convinced that we have no right to defend ourselves against the imposition of what she sees as 'proper.'**"

Heather took a deep breath. "Terminate her," she coldly declared.

A curt nod twitched his head. "**Done.**"

With that, he gently pushed the probe all the way into Lara's skull…

* * *

The city of Rajdhani on Tahupraemiku, that moment…

"**_NO…!_**"

A servant gasped on hearing that cry of mortal pain, and then he turned…

…to watch in stunned disbelief as a wide-eyed Skelad Lara — her brain matter now being burned up from the inside thanks to a meson transmitter crystal that she had inserted there three years ago in a now-nearly forgotten plan to ensure a female-led Urusian Empire would rise — seemed to stagger as blood exploded from her nose, ears and lips. A second later, a gagging croak escaped her as her body jerked for a moment…and then she collapsed dead onto the floor of her private quarters.

"**_MISS LARA!_**" the servant cried out as he raced to her side, hitting the crash alarm button on his belt to summon security and medical personnel…

* * *

_Haida_, the port flight deck, that moment…

"Link severed. All main systems fully initializing."

People blinked as the gynoid who was now the only living remnant of a woman named Skelad Lara started to shift around as her eyes fluttered while internal diagnostics were carried out and long-dormant systems came to full life. A moment later, she took a deep breath before blinking as her housekeeping wetware — the part of her mind that monitored all her internal systems — picked up something plugged into her upper chest port. Looking down, she noted the cable plugged into her, and then she followed it to her right and up to stare into a familiar face. "Tori!"

"Hey, Lara," Hitora said as she knelt beside her just-woken sister. "How do you feel?"

Lara blinked as she considered that, and then her eyes teared. "I didn't want her to die…but she wouldn't stop…just wouldn't stop, Tori…!"

Immediately, the rose-haired Zeiwanite-form Avalonian swept the sobbing gynoid into her arms. The people around them could only remain silent as Ataru slowly pulled away from the stretcher, allowing the cold flames to transform him back to normal. As Hensō came up to hug him from one side, he tensed on feeling Negako's voice echo in his mind, «You must be prepared to deal with her loyalty lock programs as well, Ataru.»

«Yeah…» he breathed out before leaning over to kiss his ex-wife…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) _The Senior Year_ character notes:

**Yumoa Reigi** first appeared in "Sakura's Class Reunion." He is a half-American orphan child who was adopted as the legal ward of Ataru's uncle **Moroboshi Komeru**. He would eventually form a relationship with Mendō Shūtarō's younger sister Ryōko.

Ataru's twin brother **Moroboshi Kaeru** first appeared in "My Darlings United." It was Kaeru's "death" — in truth, he had been taken away after being fatally wounded in an accident by aliens from a planet named Nagussa — which so badly affected their parents to the point where Kinshō, who had looked on Kaeru as her favourite son, began the cycle of emotional abuse (as I saw it) and neglect that plagued Ataru's life from well before Lum's arrival in it.

2) Translations: **NHK** — Short for _Nihon Hōsō Kyōkai_ ("Japan Broadcasting Corporation"), the Japanese national public broadcasting organization; **CMS** — Chief of the Maritime Staff, the commander of **Maritime Command** (**MARCOM**)…which was changed to the pre-1968 title of the **Royal Canadian Navy** on 16 August 2011; **HyperNet** — Short for "Hyperspace Internet," this is the Warp 15-capable self-contained version of the Internet used by the Avalonians via devices such as the dataPADD.

3) The battle between the Moroboshi siblings and the **Pirates of the Eo Kingdom of Konton** — who were first introduced in _The Ishinomaki Years_ — was depicted in _Long Way Home_.

As an aside, the **Cyborg** side of Moroboshi Ataru's personality (which first appeared in the _TSY_ story "Sakura's Class Reunion") is, in effect, his darker side brought out in flesh and metal as hard as pure neutronium. Based physically on the **Cyborg Superman** (**Hank Henshaw**) who appeared in the "Reign of the Supermen" storyline published by DC Comics during the mid-1990s, the Cyborg is an updated representation of the **Master of Entropy** (in Sagussan, _Keiseiri'cha_), the being that typically symbolizes the ending of all things that exist (his story was explained in the _TSY_ story "Noa"). The **愛と事実** inscription on his arm-shields reads _Ai to Jijitsu_ in Japanese, which means "Love and Truth" in English.

4) The actual schools and units where **Arimori Kei** and all prospective **pilots** (**PLT**) in the Canadian Forces who aspire to become fighter pilots go to train are as follows (plus length of training time):

**Primary Flight Training** (also known as **Phase I**) — **3 Canadian Forces Flying Training School** (**3 CFFTS**) at the Southport Aerospace Centre in Portage la Prairie, which is 75 kilometres west of Winnipeg in Manitoba. This particular airport, until 1992, was known as **Canadian Forces Base Portage la Prairie**. The school is an element of **15 Wing** of the Air Force (eight weeks).

**Aeromedical Training** — The **Canadian Forces School of Survival and Aeromedical Training** (**CFSSAT**) at **Canadian Forces Base Winnipeg** (**17 Wing**) (one week).

**Basic Land Survival Training** — Also at CFSSAT Winnipeg (one week).

**Basic Sea Survival Training** — The **Canadian Forces School of Search and Rescue** (**CFSSAR**) at **Canadian Forces Base Comox** (**19 Wing**), which is located on the Georgia Strait coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia a hundred kilometres west-northwest of Vancouver and 110 kilometres north-northwest of Victoria (one week).

**Basic Flight Training** (also known as **Phase IIA**) — **2 Canadian Forces Flying Training School** (**2 CFFTS**) at **Canadian Forces Base Moose Jaw** (**15 Wing**), located 77 kilometres west of Regina in Saskatchewan (thirty-two weeks).

**Advanced Flight Training** (divided into **Phase IIB Jet** and **Phase III Jet** elements) — Also at 2 CFFTS Moose Jaw (sixteen weeks).

**Phase IV Training** — **419 (Moose) Tactical Fighter Training Squadron** (**419 TFTS**) at **Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake** (**4 Wing**), located in northeastern Alberta close to the border with Saskatchewan about 200 kilometres east-northeast of Edmonton and 230 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon (twelve weeks).

**Advanced Fighter Training** — **410 (Cougar) Tactical Fighter (Operational Training) Squadron** (**410 TF[OT]S**), also at CFB Cold Lake (twenty-eight weeks).

It should be noted that all elements of military fighter pilot training in Canada up to the end of Phase IV stage is coordinated with the **NATO Flying Training in Canada** (**NFTC**) programme, which is delivered both by the Canadian Armed Forces and **Bombardier Aerospace Military Aviation Training** (**Bombardier MAT**), a civilian contractor that provides all training aircraft, civilian instructors (who all must have prior military experience), operates/maintains all physical infrastructure (buildings) and food services. This programme is responsible for Phases II-IV of pilot training. For pilots seeking to work on either rotary-wing aircraft (helicopters) and multi-engine platforms, they begin separate training from their fighter pilot brethren at the Phase IIA stage, returning back to 3 CFFTS for Phase III training (not that NFTC is not responsible for Phase I or Phase III training at Portage la Prairie).

All military pilots in the Canadian Air Force receive their wings at the end of Phase III training.

As an aside, Kei — as she will be assigned to _Haida_ — would also undergo the **Naval Environmental Training Program** course for non-MARS officers at H.M.C.S. _Venture_ (AKA **_Venture_****, the Naval Officer Training Centre**) in Esquimalt outside Victoria on the southern tip of Vancouver Island in British Columbia; this is the place where naval operations officers in the Canadian Navy learn their trade. This is a nine-week course.

5) Canadian Forces trade notes:

**Infantry Officers** (**INF**) are the commissioned members of the Royal Canadian Infantry Corps and thus, would normally lead their non-commissioned counterparts (introduced in Part Two) in all operations duly assigned to them by higher authority. Atop that, Infantry Officers perform a wide range of extra duties, including filling various staff positions at formation headquarters involving planning, training, intelligence, logistics and personnel administration. Like Infantry Soldiers, Infantry Officers belong administratively as part of their home regiment from initial trades training — which is done at the **Infantry School** (**INF S**) at Gagetown in New Brunswick — to final release from active service.

**Physical Education and Recreation Instructors** (**PERI**) were — until 1997 as noted above — the in-house military physical training instructors for the Canadian Forces. Originally established as a trade at Unification in 1968, PERIs did not join the military as such. Like certain other trades — such as **Intelligence Operators** (**INT OP**), which were introduced in _Phoenix From the Ashes_ Part 33 — in the military, one became a PERI after one reached the rank of corporal/leading seaman (after four years of service) and had passed their TQ5 level academic training in their old occupation before being allowed to remuster. PERIs — and their officer counterparts, **Physical Education and Recreation Officers** (**PERO**) — were originally part of the **Administration Branch** of the military until they were effectively allowed to form their own indigenous branch in 1978; the official birthday of the Physical Education and Recreation Branch is seen as 5 December 1980. As noted above, when the trade was officially closed down in 1997, all PERIs and PEROs were forced to remuster back to their old trades if they did not choose to take their release from the military. These days, all physical training in the Canadian Forces is done by a civilian agency, the **Personnel Support Division** of the **Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services** (**CFMWS**), who are responsible for delivering selected public morale and welfare programs, services and activities to eligible members of the Canadian Forces and their families (this group also administers the **CANEX** [**Canadian Forces Exchange**] network of shopping centres on all military bases).

6) **Iketani Marino** is a character from the strip mahjong video game _Final Romance 2_, which came out in the mid-1990s from the Video System group. The art book for this particular series — and its sequel series _Final Romance R_ — was one of the first items I collected when I began teaching in South Korea in 1996; even if the actual video artwork was quite primitive in comparison to what is released today, the conceptual artwork was spectacular. Marino, according to the notes in the art book, is a sports fanatic and quite the tomboy. She is shown in camouflage combat pants in the _FR2_ art book, so making her counterpart on _Haida_ an infantry soldier just seemed right to me.

7) **RNA** is the short-term for **Ribonucleic Acid**, a ubiquitous family of large biological molecules that perform multiple vital roles in the coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA combines with **DNA** (**Deoxyribonucleic Acid**) to comprise what are called the **nucleic acids**, which — along with proteins — constitute the three major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life. Like DNA, RNA is assembled as a chain of nucleotides, but is usually single-stranded (DNA is double-stranded). RNA forms the genetic material in what are scientifically designated as **filoviridae**, the genetic family of viruses that the various **Ebola** types are a part of.

8) The idea of **Luna Lovegood** being a type of magical Seer — like Professor **Sybill Trelawney** — is pretty much _Harry Potter_ fanon, but I like the concept and use it in my stories.


	6. Let Them Be Free

_Haida_, the aft wardroom on Deck A12 Aft, an hour after the turn of the forenoon watch…

"She wanted to have Ataru destroy her?!"

Uio Toma nodded. "I couldn't believe it when the admiral told me that, but she didn't feel like she was lying." She sipped her spice tea. "If that's the power of Zeiwanite moral programming when it's applied to a personality replica unit…!"

"Then those girls that Ataru found would be no problem at all," Bren Tai said before sipping his own tea. The expat Urusian military officers and senior non-commissioned members currently aboard _Haida_ who had been on _Redemption_ — there were sixteen of them altogether — normally spent their working days dividing their time between studying up on the military traditions of their new service and helping train the Terrans and Avalonians aboard on how to use their new ship's systems. With the permission of Heather Thompkins, they — Tai was seen as their unofficial division officer, with Toma as his second-in-command — had taken over the upper aft wardroom located close to the flag officer's and director's quarters as their own personal space to spend time with each other and exchange ideas. "Much that it's wonderful to have Kazu back…"

"I never expected any version of Major Caril and Major Vanna to be so friendly!" Azu Roki mused before sipping her tea. "They HUGGED me when I showed up in the gym to help train the girls there! Their other-selves wouldn't give me the time of day!"

"You're not the only one to feel that way," Horan Moss stated. As people gazed on the green-haired Seishin man with the sorrowful brown eyes, he blushed. "When I met up with Bey and Key in the gymnasium, they both gave me KISSES on the cheek and said how happy they were to see me!" As the others laughed, he shrugged. "It's nice! I agree with the commander; having Captain Kakazu with us is a great thing! But all the others with them…" He shook his head. "It'll take a while to get used to."

"How did they feel to you, Koran?" Tenwan Riu asked.

Nan Koran was a silver-haired Oni, brevetted a petty officer 1st class and employed as a naval electronic sensor operator; his task was to educate the Terran members of his trade on how to make use of _Haida_'s impressive battery of guns and missiles in battle. He, along with Tai and Moss — when they had been forced down into the Dead Grove thanks to Ōgi after the _Redemption_ had been effectively wrecked — found themselves in a small group which also included a disguised Seq Yethis, who had been emphatically sensed out by Moroboshi Tariko, then taunted into revealing himself. That act had so sickened the people with Yethis that, when Tariko and her lover Hayashi Kanami had teamed together to take him down, Tai and his companions gladly surrendered…which had almost destroyed the man. Then again, wasn't it only proper in the long term?

After all, Tariko's _family home_ had been attacked by people under Yethis' overall command just days before!

She had every right in the universe to seek redress at that!

In the wake of that, Koran had been granted parole and had elected to join his Avalonian wife Karath Ilana — theirs was an odd relationship as Ilana, who was also a brevet petty officer 1st class serving as a hull technician, had come to see the man she had been created to be with both as her child-mate and bond-mate — on Earth. When he had his DNA augmented, his telepathic power — all Oni were telepathic to one extent or another — had increased exponentially well beyond Avalonian norms. It had forced Lynn Kennison — one of Dean Raeburn's many metahuman students — to take Koran under her wing so she could help him control his power better. He appreciated it; like his friends, he had never really had anything personal against Terrans. That also made him want to make sure that the people who had been forced by fate onto this starship could operate and fight her as best as they could given the gross manning shortages a vessel demanding a core crew of 2,500 officers and non-commissioned members was putting on the Canadian Navy.

"Like they were all raised the same way Captain Kakazu was," he finally confessed. "For three years, their primary focus was those two little girls our friends on the _Ujjayini_ rescued. They had to be moms, aunts, teachers and babysitters to them. And in the beginning, the mission set on them by Skelad Lara — if what Ataru found out was the truth — was a good one: Prepare Shunran and Mayhan to assume the headship of their House. That it eventually disintegrated like it did…" He shook his head.

"The only other issue is that they're all one-hundred-and-ten percent hopelessly in love with their 'darling!'" Riu's twin sister Kiu stated, which made the others laugh. "Which really hurts the poor guy deep down. He didn't see them as robots. They were living, breathing people to him. Trapped by all that programming…"

"In a way, Ataru is right," Toma mused. "They are living, breathing people."

"Which is why we love Darling so much."

People turned…and then they all stood up as a group of nineteen beautiful women walked into the room. All dressed in Naval Combat Dress with their pending brevet ranks on their shoulders, they all had the beautiful fruit sundaes in hand that was served as the traditional first meal for just-woken bioroids. "Everyone, please! Sit down!" Azu Kakazu said as they move to join them at the long table, she assuming the position at the other end from Tai. "There's no need to stand on ceremony for us."

The others laughed as they sat. "So how's that replica of Lara, ma'am?" Moss asked. "If her other-self was the one who actually had you all built…"

"We haven't fully confirmed that, Moss," Bren Luan stated. "Tori and Mayumi are busy replicating all of Lara's memory files so they could be sifted through and analyzed before we can either consider this incident done and over with or plan a follow-up attack using those of our still-sleeping sisters as the rifle barrels, so to speak."

"How is Lara, anyway?" Toma asked.

The just-transformed gynoids all frowned. "If it was any of us caught in a situation like that, we would have done the same thing," Azu Toge quietly said. "Do everything we could to stop our templates from doing something evil, even finding a way to kill our template…then allowing ourselves to die for violating the laws about bringing organics to harm." She took a bite out of her sundae. "I think that because it was Darling that actually killed the other Lara, our Lara should turn out okay."

"Oh, Riu, did you look at the list Architect Hitora gave you?" Tai asked.

She nodded. "I did. There are about fourteen other people who I'd rate as potentially bad as Lara. The rest all appear to be mindless muscle." Riu then shook her head. "I just don't get it. Most of them, even Lara, were just common folk; their ancestors only got their house names officially after the Revolution. Why support the Imperial Round?"

"'Mindless muscle,' Riu," Kakazu reminded her before slipping a spoon-full of sundae into her mouth. "Besides, even amongst the common people, there's always been a fascination about the era before the Revolution. The romantic views of what happened back then, not the reality that's been taught in elementary school history classes." She then grinned as Kakaru — they were now bond-mates — scooped up some of her own sundae to slip into her mouth. "I personally think that Lara — whom, as we all know, wasn't descended from one of the Imperial Houses but of the merchant caste that rose up in the century before the Revolution — did what she did because she wanted to be the power behind the throne when the Restoration happened and either Lum or Hensō became Empress. She no doubt enticed the others to think the same way."

The others nodded. "Where's Ataru right now, Captain?" Kiu asked.

Kakazu smirked. Brevet ranks in the Canadian Armed Forces — which had become official policy at the start of June — were capped at warrant officers/petty officers 1st class for non-commissioned members and majors/lieutenant commanders for officers; special exceptions were made for people like Heather Thompkins and her fellow War Hawks. She — atop Azu Kakaru, Bren Luan, Tenwan Caril and Horan Vanna — was at the upper point for brevet officers in the Canadian Forces; the other former gynoids were all captains and lieutenants (navy) in their respective services. She could understand why the people who had once known her other-self would address her by that Kakazu's ultimate rank in the Urusian Defence Force. "Darling's in his quarters resting himself up. And Lieutenant…?"

Kiu tensed on hearing the warning in the other woman's voice. "Ma'am…?"

"Please get the rank right. Much that I understand why you call me that, our hosts won't care too much to have their own rank system disrespected in that manner."

Kiu jolted, and then she nodded. "Yes, Commander…"

* * *

A certain equipment laboratory on Deck A9 Aft, that moment…

"How is she, Mayumi?"

Asai Mayumi sighed as she adjusted her glasses. "The full diagnostic of all Lara's internal systems will be done in an hour. The replication of all her memory banks will be done at the same time; I'm having it done simultaneously." She gazed down on the unmoving figure of Skelad Lara, who was lying on a spare diagnostic bed that had been brought into the room from Sick Bay for the occasion. "I would say that mentally, she's in good shape. Before I placed her in diagnostic mode, she expressed considerable relief that her other-self wouldn't hurt people anymore. I suspect there is a part of her that feels guilty over having a hand in killing the woman who actually saw her created and gave her life…but that can be dealt with by Onii-sama."

Hearing that, Hensō nodded. "That's good."

The future ATIS technician blinked. "Something wrong?"

Lum's twin blinked, and then she sighed. "Well, in a way, yes. I mean…" She then wistfully smiled. "I see myself as Darling's doll, no different than Kazu or Tori or the others he's slept with…and yet, he's really hesitant on the idea of having sex with me."

"I do remind you that you did go through a pretty nasty break-up with him."

She shook her head. "It's not that. It's actually Naoko that makes Darling hesitate with me." A smirk then crossed her face. "I love her dearly and I can't imagine living my life with someone else…but since Naoko sees Darling as her 'Onii-sama' like you do…"

Mayumi chuckled. "I supposed I'll probably start seeing Onii-sama as a potential candidate to father my children one day soon," she stated. "But I have other things to think about first. My career, building a life for myself and other things. Not to mention starting up my own relationship." Here, she gazed appreciatively at her new bond-mate, who was busy analyzing the unmoving Sunmee dai-Kohl with a dataPADD.

The Zeiwanite-form Avalonian — her skin had actually been lightened up to a proper Oriental shade of bronze-pink so as to not make her stick out so much; she also had adopted the Terran name "Hitora Kutzei" when she was granted provisional citizenship rights on her enduring her body-swap — perked on sensing Mayumi gaze her way, and then she smiled. "Don't worry about it, Hensō," she stated. "Ataru loves you still, as much as he cares for all of us. He just wants to be comfortable being physical and sexual with people who vary so greatly emotionally. If we were all like you…"

"We'd all be losing our maidenheads soon enough…and I doubt that Shikuko-onēsama and Miyako-onēsama could possibly begin to stop him," Mayumi noted.

"No," Hensō quipped. "Knowing Shikuko-san, she'd be right in the middle of it."

All three girls laughed…before they tensed on sensing two people approach the main door. "Come!" Mayumi called out before the doorbell could be rung.

The door opened, revealing — much to Hensō's surprise — two certain Rakuyō Senior High School students who currently were Moroboshi Ataru's lovers, both dressed in normal clothes. "Damn straight I'd be in the middle of an orgy like that, Hensō-chan!" Sebone Shikuko stated as she walked over to gently embrace the Oni-form Avalonian, kissing her on the lips. At the same time, Noberu Miyako moved to warmly embrace Mayumi. "How are you, Hensō?"

"Hurting a bit for what Darling's had to go through," Lum's twin confessed before she gave one of the most powerful tōshi in Kantō a curious look. "How…?"

"Hitched a ride on a shuttle from _Yamato_ when Hiromi told me what was going on here and what Ataru was being asked to do for those poor girls," Shikuko stated before her eyes fell on Hitora, those beautiful green orbs widening on picking out the sexy curves the just-transformed gynoid had under her NCDs; Hitora had elected to become a civilian adviser to the Earth Defence Force as her late template Tadara — who could also be seen as an adopted mother of sorts — had not served in the military of the United Republic of Zeiwan. As she was also Mayumi's bond-mate, Hitora was also seen as a dependant to a serving member of the Canadian Armed Forces, granted all rights and privileges of same. "Oh, my heavens! Is this what you looked like when you were a gynoid?"

"Actually, yes. I will admit that the body-sculpting capabilities of the Avalonian system is incredible." With that, Hitora walked over to gently embrace Shikuko, giving her a warm kiss on the lips. "I'm so glad my master has such a beautiful lover as you, Shikuko." She then gazed on Miyako, offering her arm. "And you as well, Miyako."

The sophomore walked over to warmly embrace and kiss the older-looking girl. "We're lucky to have him," Miyako stated. "Did Ataru tell you all about us?"

"Before we put ourselves down to bed last night after our body-swaps, we visited him in his quarters to telepathically tell him we were alright," Hitora confessed as she headed back to continue to monitor Sunmee. "When we mind-melded with him with Naoko's and Hensō's help, we saw the images of both of you and learned how you came together with him." She then gazed sadly at Shikuko. "I realize it's been many months since the fact, but please accept my condolences at the loss of your cousin. It was a pity that the Avalonians couldn't get to her before she passed on. She deserved the chance to live."

Shikuko nodded. "I appreciate that, Tori. Thank you. So what's the story about this handsome fellow here?" she waved to the unmoving Sunmee. "I heard he was the overseer of sorts to thirty of Mayumi's missing sisters…but he was chained down way worse than any of you girls were before Ataru got to you all. Can you bring him back?"

"With a lot of difficulty," Hitora answered. "All his central neutral pathways have been badly strained because they were never given the chance to grow and develop as they normally should have done. Unfortunately, he was constructed before the laws were put into effect that demanded the current standards of moral programming, plus put stronger restrictions against any sort of android and gynoid abuse."

"And if they were there?" Hensō asked.

"He would have never been allowed to be taken to Phentax Two in the first place. I don't know what idiot sold him to his father, but whoever did that should be audited." Which was a hideous fate in the eyes of any self-respecting Zeiwanite businessman. The United Republic's Commerce Standards and Ethics Authority had laws that granted their inspectors — even android/gynoid ones — near-draconian levels of power when it came to investigating any sort of potentially illegal or immoral activity. People's whole fortunes had been totally wiped out by the CSEA for far lesser things than what the person who had constructed Sunmee dai-Kohl had allowed to have happen to his product. "As a matter of fact, as soon as we find some way to get him back on his feet, I'll get Ataru's sister to contact the Creator and have the CSEA look into this."

The others nodded…

* * *

Deck A12 Aft, a certain guest cabin on the port side…

A knock on the door. "Darling?"

"Come in, Toge."

The door opened to allow Toge to step inside. "How are you?" the newly-brevetted Air Force captain asked as she walked over to sit on the bed beside the lounge chair where her spiritual owner/master was sitting, gazing out the view port at the stars beyond.

He reached over to gently grasp her hand. "Pretty okay, given the circumstances," he admitted. "Even if you believe what I did to you was proper…"

She smiled. "You want to get away from the image of what your name means in Urusian," she stated as she gently took his hand in both of hers, projecting as much love as she could through that contact into him. "You don't realize this, but out beyond the asteroid belt, people think of you more with the image of the Cyborg destroying the Konton pirates than the time you went with Jariten to break up that engagement party forced on Hensō by her father and how you acted around Prim and Diana. As for the people in Tomobiki…" She smirked. "Well, doesn't that word in Sagussan mean 'place of fools and madmen?' Why should you care about them?"

He blinked before giving her a light smile. "I guess I sometimes care too much for things that really shouldn't bother me in the long term," he confessed. "Then again, underneath all this, I am just a seventeen year-old teenage man who was raised in something of a normal household on Earth. All the stuff that fell on my head from the Tag Race onward…" He shook his head. "I'd wish it all away if I had the power to do that, Toge…but I can't, so I endured as best as I could." He then gazed at her. "And deep down, I am glad I was able to bring you 'back,' so to speak, to being what you should have been all along. All the others, too."

"And we are forever grateful to you for letting us become what we should have been," Toge stated before she hummed. "Still, I wonder what might have happened if the Niphentaxians weren't so secretive about the Avalonians. Could I have actually been created as an Avalonian? Would that have worked as well for Shunran and Mayhan?"

"Maybe. So what's going on with Lara right now?"

"The combined memory scan and systems diagnostic will be done in about an hour," Toge reported. "Once that's done, I would strongly recommend that you secure Lara's loyalty lock before she goes for a body-swap. Even if it does force you to have sex with her, it would make her more agreeable to the idea of becoming an Avalonian. Thinking about it now, I believe I would have hesitated on doing a body-swap if you hadn't secured my loyalty lock." She then smiled. "Besides, she's more your age emotionally than I am. I think you two — and Shikuko-sama and Miyako-sama, of course — would get along great."

He tried not to roll his eyes on hearing that. "Just like the girls poor Yōichi had to deal with until Onē-san and I rescued him and got him away from them."

Toge frowned. In the brief mind-meld she and her sisters had shared with their Darling, they had learned of his former elementary school classmate Shibamata Yōichi and his being forced for three months to have constant, frequent sex — sometimes on the order of several times a DAY! — with a group of fifteen very beautifully-constructed gynoid lovers…who had been built with a "rabbit system" that forced them to either have sex with their master or make them self-destruct with the force of several hundred pounds of TNT. The girls in question — the one of them that Ataru knew quite well was a beautiful ninja named Raika, who had tried to force him to reveal the location of her "Goshujin-sama" on several occasions after Yōichi disappeared — had their souls anchored by meson crystals in their minds; that had been fitted into them to help their human emulation programming work better. Because of that, it had long been concluded that if Yōichi's companions DID self-destruct, their souls — which would survive such an event — would be so traumatized that, once they became bioroids, they would sink into permanent comas. To prevent that from happening, Ataru made use of the Gojūni Sanji exercises to help the girls when he encountered them go through orgasm routines — thus blunt the rabbit system from making them kill themselves — and hopefully convince them that the best thing to happen to them was to become Avalonians. However, the loyalty locks in girls like Raika — which forced them to view Shibamata Yōichi as their ONLY master and the ONLY man they could have sex with — made then violently balk at the very _idea_ of becoming bioroids as such would break the loyalty lock…which — thanks very much to their perverted creator, Yōichi's grandfather Kyōsuke — they were programmed to NEVER allow to happen. Fortunately, this weird catch-22 situation hadn't resulted in much damage or any of the gynoids killing themselves…but it couldn't be moved forward; Kyōsuke — who, all along, had been hell bent and determined to ensure his grandson would have a "healthy sex life" — had his memories cleansed of information concerning how to permanently disable the rabbit system and loyalty locks in his creations before he was arrested and sentenced to life without parole for "creating dangerous goods that threatened the health and safety of innocent bystanders."

"You'll be able to help them, Darling," she stated as she gave him a reassuring smile. "They're in a worse way than we were when you became our master…and you don't have to worry about having sex with them to make them yours. All you need is a little bit of luck to keep them still for the time needed to make new bodies for them."

A sigh escaped him. "I hope so." He then perked. "So, what's the plan for you now?"

"Well, since I was the corvette's main pilot, I've been rated as a reserve pilot in the Air Force," she admitted. "I can do the necessary tests at 400 Squadron in Borden to be awarded my wings for multi-engine aircraft, then come back down to qualify myself as a reserve Star Flare pilot. Colonel Lagrange told me that they'll be forming an Air Reserve Flight for 21 Wing once the permanent home base is decided and construction beings. I can be placed on strength there, then seconded to 448 Squadron."

He nodded. "You'll look good in blue. What about the other pilots?"

"Well, since they're reforming the full-time element of the Royal London Rifles as tactical air cavalry for Second Brigade, there'll be need for spare pilots in the squadron that'll be assigned as tactical air cavalry support to the First Guards on this ship. Dara and Pahan will join two of the reserve air cavalry regiments in Ontario and be put on Class C call-out to the Royal London Rifles until they're back at full fighting strength."

"They'll need to do some modifications to the launch tubes," he muttered. "A Camel III is a lot larger than a Starfire. When Tsukihana designed the system, he had it built specifically for that type of fighter." A smirk. "Never mind his putting TWO HUNDRED of the damned things on this ship. Hell, that's a mini-air force to most people!"

She giggled. "Yeah, it would be pretty large even for a Kashin-class," Toge admitted before she blinked. "Darling, what is it? You want to tell me something…"

He sighed. "There's a girl on this ship who had a crush on your template."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"Excuse me?" Toge eeped.

Ataru smirked. "It's true. She was one of the Avalonians who had been created to serve as crew for _Redemption_. Very nice girl, actually. She was pretty skittish with the other you, so she never knew what the other you was really like…much less knew of her relationship with Yethis." As Toge made a face on that — in reflecting on her other-self's interest in the former chief of staff to the Urusian president and leader of the Imperial Round, the gynoid version of Azu Toge thought her template was totally out of her mind in offering herself as a living sex toy to a man old enough to be her _**grandfather**_ — Ataru then added, "She didn't find out everything until it was all said and done down in the Dead Grove and the Noukiites took the other you away to be tried with Yethis and the rest of those clowns for what they wanted to provoke. It broke her heart bad…but according to Arimori Kei, who was assigned by Raeburn-shōshō to give Riyu — that's her name, Aruka Riyu — some intimate therapy, she still looks on the other you as the most perfect girl in existence." He then winked. "Which I can find myself agreeing to."

Mega-blush time! "Darling!" she yelped.

Both then laughed. "So I want to make sure you're prepared just in case you run into this girl and she starts acting like a stuttering idiot around you," he finished.

More laughter, and then Toge sighed. "What if it doesn't happen, Darling?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if our bonding programming doesn't activate properly?" she emphasized. "I mean, I realize I'm the total opposite of what the other me was like…and I wouldn't dream of hurting someone like Riyu; I can sense from you she's a wonderful person. But there is the chance that things might not click in properly between…"

A knock echoed through the room. "Ataru-kun?! Are you in?!"

"Come in, Kasumi-san!" Ataru called out. "Door's open!"

The door opened to reveal Miyamoto Kasumi…who was currently accompanying a madly-blushing girl appearing to be the same age as Toge though she was Seishin-form and not Oni-form. On seeing Riyu in person for the first time, Toge blinked…before her breath suddenly caught in her throat as the burning _desire_ the other woman held for her — actually, her other-self, but that really didn't matter now — reached out to wrap around her like a warm shroud. As that happened, Riyu's brown eyes fixed on Toge's grey ones for a moment…and then the former swooned before collapsing in a faint in Kasumi's arms. Instantly, Toge was at her side, lifting the passed-out marine systems engineer into her hands and carrying her over to the bed. As the pilot moved to comfort the other woman, Ataru got up and walked over to stand close to Kasumi. "It might have been as subtle as a bull running loose in a china shop, but it worked," he whispered.

"Let's just hope it doesn't keep hurting them," she whispered in turn…

* * *

Deck A12 Aft, Admiral's Meeting Room, midway through the forenoon watch…

"So how bad was it, Alex?"

Pierre Alexandre took a deep breath before sipping the coffee that had been prepared for him. He had just beamed over from the _Ujjayini_ after what seemed an eternity in a spacesuit guiding other people from USAMRIID in the full clean-out of the small star boat that had brought Renning Shunran and Renning Mayhan to the solar system. "It could have been potentially explosive, Admiral," the infectious disease specialist then answered. "Hifuto is capable of surviving in any known environment on Earth save the Arctic and Antarctic; that's according to the records the Avalonians brought with them after the Liberation. It's not like Ebola, which is a tropical virus that wouldn't be able to really survive in temperate or polar climate conditions without assistance. Had the star boat crash-landed on Earth, the disease particles would have got out into the atmosphere and begin latching onto people to spread out and multiply. I suspect this was the original intention in the first place. Captain Acharekar's people — with the assistance of Miss Hakaru and Mister Ki — are going through the flight logs right now."

"As a precaution, Admiral, we ejected the warp core from the star boat and allowed it to detonate a safe distance away from our ships," Laxmanrao Acharekar reported from his place to Heather Thompkins' left; Brian Gamblin sat to the admiral's right, with Alexandre beside him. Also present was Captain Douglas Tremblay and Warrant Officer Don Glas, the senior members of the Canadian Forces Military Police now on _Haida_; given that the arrival of Shunran and Mayhan in Earth's solar system might have been a disguised biological warfare attack on Earth, their presence was necessary to record down what was revealed for presentation to the proper authorities in Canada and elsewhere for judicial and political review. "According to the initial scan of the main computer systems, there was no hidden self-destruct trigger on the star boat."

"Any idea as to why that didn't happen?" Heather asked.

"Miss Ayami believes that since the person who might have provoked this was a very arrogant young woman, the chances are there that Miss Lara…"

"Respectfully, Captain, we haven't confirmed that yet," Glas warned.

The Indian officer nodded. "I apologize, Warrant Officer Glas, and withdraw that part of my statement from the record." Everyone in the room had been sworn to speak the truth in this meeting by Glas before the debriefing began. "As I was trying to say, Miss Ayami believes that the person who could have provoked this may be an Imperial radical, a racist who views our race as nothing more than 'tailless monkeys' who can't think for themselves. Thus, it would be simply impossible for us — following this line of thought — to not only detect what was going on with young Miss Shunran and Miss Mayhan before it was too late, but to successfully counter such a threat. And, atop that, save the lives of two innocent young girls who only deserved to live their lives in peace and harmony."

"How soon will they be finished with the star boat?" the Canadian arch-mage asked.

"Another four hours to make sure of it," Acharekar answered.

Heather nodded. "Alright, we'll stop the debrief at the time. Captain Acharekar, I think Colonel Alexandre and his people deserve a little reward for their hard work."

"Just doing our jobs, ma'am," a flustered Alexandre stated.

"Admiral Verma has already been appraised of what's happening, Admiral," Acharekar stated as he gave the American officer a grin as he referred to his service's senior officer, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma. "He contacted General Casey to explain what happened." That was the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, General George W. Casey, Jr. "As far as the general is personally concerned — and he will contact your commanding general at Detrick about this personally, Alex — Army Regulations are waived for the remainder of the work day for you and your people for what you did."

"Well, as long as we got places to rest and rack out," Alexandre stated.

"On _**these**_ ships?!" Gamblin wondered.

Everyone laughed…and then they all perked on hearing a gentle knock echo from the door. "Come in!" Heather called out.

The door opened to reveal Asai Mayumi. "Sorry to disturb you, Admiral."

"What's Miss Lara's status?"

"She's with Onii-sama right now," the future ATIS technician stated, holding up a dataPADD. "We finished both the memory scans and the systems diagnostics on her."

"I trust you can translate all this witchcraft to us?" the admiral wondered.

"No, ma'am, I don't translate witchcraft. That's _**your**_ area of expertise."

People gaped…before Alexandre roared with laughter. As the others snickered at Mayumi's lame attempt at a joke, Heather sighed. "Get in here!"

"Excuse me, please," Mayumi playfully called out as she stepped inside…

* * *

The upper hangar bay, a half-hour before lunch…

"That's the last one, Commander Kennison."

"Thank you!"

Inside the open hangar bay that would normally house the Star Flare _DeWolf_ — said shuttle was now in the process of taking government officials who had been aboard _Haida_ overnight back to Earth after watching a transmission from the Intergalactic News Network which relayed the first gathering of representatives from the various planets of the Galactic Federation in the wake of the Task Force's mission to Yaminokuni — a small group of personnel, both Canadian and Indian, were busy setting up two rows of stretchers on wooden horses that extended from the forward end of the bay to the open door. Now landed on the flight deck beyond was the Yashi-class corvette that had been the effective home-away-from-home for the Renning sisters, not to mention their gynoid caregivers; currently, _Haida_ was projecting a breathable atmosphere on the flight deck to allow people to move to and from the corvette's boarding ramp without the need to use spacesuits or materialisers.

Watching over this operation was Lynn Kennison's elder twin sister Maria. A lieutenant commander in the Canadian Navy and a professional intelligence officer currently assigned to 1st Canadian Division Headquarters in Kingston as J2 Operations, she was also seen as one of the most powerful non-magical telepaths on Earth alive today. In fact, she was so powerful that — when her abilities first awoke fifteen years ago after she began attending high school in the Ontario city of Welland near Niagara Falls — she had been sensed by Dean Raeburn herself all the way at the latter's home outside Fort Saint John in British Columbia…which was a distance by car of over _**four thousand kilometres**_! Seen as one of the air cavalry officer's best metahuman students, Maria had been quite the prize when the recruiters moved to welcome her into the military. She elected to become an intelligence officer since she could use her telepathy in "scouting missions" — on being seconded to the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service — in potential hostile territory. Maria also had a direct hand in detecting at least six attempts by foreign intelligence forces — mostly Russian and Chinese — in penetrating Canadian military security, including a rather sad case centred on a fellow naval intelligence officer from Halifax who had been badly compromised by the GRU.

"Maria, is it normal for gynoids to be so beautiful?"

Maria's blue eyes twinkled with amusement as she gazed on Miyamoto Kasumi. Since — now that it was proven that the other gynoids who had been aboard Azu Kakazu's ship were somehow connected to an Urusian Imperial plot against the Terrans and the Avalonians — it was now seen as potentially vital to have all the dormant gynoids given body-swaps and made bioroids, the medical staff of both _Haida_ and _Ujjayini_ had been drafted into preparing the replacement bodies; the numbers were considerably large and would deplete both ship's stocks of non-templated bioroid bodies, but it could be done. "Well, I've never really had to deal with fembots and all that since research into their creation is still a very expensive thing to do on Earth, but it would make sense," she mused as she gazed down at one particular woman, a silver-haired tomboyish Oni with eyes the shade of pure maple fudge. Each gynoid that had been brought down from the corvette had a name-tag placed on them thanks to Hitora Kutzei to allow people to tell who they were.

The girl that currently held Maria's and Kasumi's attention was named Lorrah Treya. According to Tenwan Riu, the real Treya was the Urusian equivalent of a juvenile delinquent on her way to graduating into full-time criminal activities. She was known to be the head of a space-bike gang — an odd hobby given that almost all Oni could physical fly; because of that, the popularity of air bikes like the model Shigaten Kamen once drove had never really taken off on Uru — and a drop-out from galactic middle school. The real Treya had spent time in detention for things such as trading in mayaku dust — a heroin-like drug that was quite addictive and could be sold anywhere in the Federation for a fortune if one had the right quantities — but had always escaped long-term incarceration thanks to very good lawyers. Riu had no idea who it was that had always got Treya — and the members of her gang, all of whom had gynoid replicas now aboard _Haida_ at this time — off the hook, but it had to be someone with either a lot of wealth or the right type of political connections. Since the blue-bloods in the Imperial Round wouldn't have anything to do with a woman like Treya — people like her were often called "lesser trash" right to their faces by people like Seq Yethis! — the chances were good that she and her friends had very wealthy patrons…such as one Skelad Lara.

"'Mindless muscle,' you called them, Kazu?" Maria then wondered.

Kakazu — who mustered the members of her ship's crew to help up; even Shunran and Mayhan and wanted to help…though all they did was ride the shoulders of their mothers as they helped carry the gynoids in — nodded as she came up to stand beside the intelligence officer. "Definitely. What do you think about her, Miss Negako?" she then asked the woman who was doing a ki and shiatsu analysis of the replica of Treya's number two girl, a slender Oni with light green hair and pale brown eyes named Suragh Miyana, now lying on the stretcher next to Treya herself.

"Very intelligent young women who were never supported in their drive to better themselves. That made them all feel abandoned by their parent society, which gave them the moral justification in their own minds to engage in illegal behaviour," Moroboshi Negako stated as she gently sent a ki probe into Miyana's forehead. "As we all learned from Lara, the minds of all these women have been active all along even if their bodies have been kept dormant. They have been given constant and consistent updated information from their templates through the mesonium transmitter crystals in their central processors, thus giving them the ability to — if required — step into their template's places without anyone becoming the wiser."

"They were created to continue whatever work Lara had in mind in the first place, you mean. To press for a female-lead Imperial Restoration under Lum or Hensō."

"That is correct, Caril," Negako stated as she finished the last probe into Miyana's brain. "At the beginning, Lara planned for everything. She did not suspect the truth about Hensō, but she believed that — as Hensō is, in a way, the hereditary heiress to the Throne of the Maidens — everything that could be done to remove the male leaders of the Imperial Round and allow such to be taken over by women had to be promoted. Hence, the original move to keep Shunran and Mayhan safe that saw all of you created." She then walked over to the next gynoid, a replica of one of Skelad Lara's close friends named Aruka Insa. A Seishin woman with jet black hair and light blue eyes in her mid-thirties, she was a right-wing conservative info-net commentator; in effect, she was the Urusian equivalent of people such as Rush Limbaugh. While any known connection to the Imperial Round had never been proven with the real Insa, she had long railed against the many inequities of the present military junta ruling Uru and her colony worlds. "Take Insa here. She is very proud of her perceived spiritual descent from Noa and Honii and believes that if an Imperial Restoration is to occur, it should happen with House Aruka as the First House of the Realm; she has never liked the idea of other houses such as the Seq and the Redet 'hogging' the Throne of the Maidens as they did before."

"You can tell all that by just probing into her replica's mind, Miss Negako?"

People turned, and then all the former gynoids grinned on seeing a smiling — and clearly happy — Skelad Lara walk up to them, hand-in-hand with Redet Hensō. "It is quite easy for me to perceive the thoughts of your sisters, Lara. As you yourself are well aware, they are in a state of semi-consciousness, with fully-active minds even if their bodies are not fully operational. What we must decide to do now is how to activate these other gynoids without alerting their templates as to what is happening."

"Simple," Lara stated. "Do like Darling did to me. Force-feed energy through the transmitter crystals to kill them via a massive overload of their neurons, thus provoking an aneurysm in the arteries as the connecting tissues are ruptured."

"Will it have to be done?" Hensō asked.

Lara nodded. "Yes."

"You're pretty sure about that," Maria noted.

The younger woman sighed. "After what I sensed what my other-self began to plot after the Liberation effectively sealed Earth off from us, Commander, there's no choice in the matter." Lara then waved to Insa. "Take Insa here. She was a secret supporter of the Konton pirates; she had friends on Erihana working the border monitoring stations that would pass on information on Noukiite ship movements in their Outmarches close to Konton for the Eo pirates to use. With that information, the pirates could strike with impunity. Yet, look what Darling did back in March: He effectively _**destroyed**_ the Konton pirates' ability to defend themselves from the Yizibajohei when Lady K'ekhech provoked that mini-Mother of All Fight Scenes to wipe the rest of them out. Insa's son Popok was killed in that fight, so she wanted revenge. My other-self got in contact with her and…" She shrugged.

"So with your other-self's death, who would assume control of the organization she created? And what resources do they have?" Maria wondered.

"Insa would become the new leader, though she would defer to Treya as the site commander for a secret base in the Vernak system…"

"Vernak?!" Kakazu gasped. "That was one system over from where WE were!"

Lara nodded. "On Asteroid 494D in the Vernak system, a private space station was constructed by Skelad Industries twenty years ago to serve as a base camp for asteroid mining. It was all on the up-and-up at first; the Spotakites didn't have the abilities to exploit all the mineral resources of the system and Father saw an opportunity to build a resource base away from monitoring by anti-Imperial elements on Uru. Over time, my other-self convinced him to turn the base into a special camp to support the Imperial Round. Since she had proven herself to be 'loyal' to the Round, Father gave my other-self the right to crew the station in whatever way she wanted."

"That's the reason Treya and her friends got involved," Horan Vanna noted as she moved to scan each of the unmoving bioroids with a tricorder.

Lara nodded. "Everyone in this group, so to speak, came together because they all shared one unique trait: We were all loyal to Lum." Lara gazed on Hensō, who was now blushing at such a declaration. "Granted, none knew the truth of what happened on Home Base thanks to the Lady Zōju…but in all their eyes, it was simple: Lum — in truth, Hensō — had not declared her support for any of the political factions even if her parents were hard-core Unionists. Because of her lack of 'taint,' that made her the right person to become the first Empress of a restored Empire in the eyes of Imperials. Yes, her being married to a Terran was a problem…but I will confess that in the beginning, many of us had the same attitudes Kazu and many others had when it came to them."

"Why is that, anyway?" Kasumi asked. "I mean, we're not politically or socially united, much less having developed our own warp drive systems. So why…?"

"Because you were never conquered by the Seifukusu, Miss Kasumi," Azu Toge answered as she came up to join them. "We never really understood why the Seifukusu never took over Earth like they did Uru and Neptune. After the Liberation, it became the common belief amongst Urusians that there was something really special about Terrans. That's what ultimately prompted the Tag Race last summer; we were protecting Earth — a world and culture we respected even if it was nowhere close to ours — from outside threat."

"Granted, it did amaze some that no one ever considered the possibility of the Steel Angels returning to defend their people, much less General Raeburn being called back to protect Earth," Kakazu added.

"You, Miss Negako, were a TOTAL unknown to us," Lara added.

"Naturally," Negako stated with an amused smirk.

Others laughed. "What changed, Lara?" Kasumi asked. "The Avalonians?"

"And the whole blocking off of Earth from us," Lara affirmed with a nod. "Yes, Darling acted in the right way when the news of that annihilation bomb got out; I realize now that the announcement Lady Chancellor Nakkyek made about the imposition of Paragraph Ten of the Tag Race Treaty was meant to lure the Niphentaxians' attention towards Earth so that the Lady K'ekhech's and Lord Varanko's attack on Phentax Twelve could go off without a hitch. But to most Urusians regardless of political leaning, the fact that the Terrans had literally crushed our horns and rejected us like that…" She sighed. "For the other me, it was just too much. In her mind, it was simple. If the Terrans wanted to reject all help from Uru concerning getting into space, then they'd have to learn the _**hard**_ way about how deadly space really is in the long term."

"Hifuto," Maria stated.

"Yes. By the time the child's fair that Shunran and Mayhan went to started, my other-self's anger had made her totally irrational." Lara then rolled her eyes. "Not that she was really rational in the first place. Honestly! Actually plotting some way to attack _**Yiziba**_ after they nearly destroyed us in the Mother of All Fight Scenes two centuries ago?!" As Hensō yelped on hearing _that_ name and the others snickered on hearing that, she then shrugged before she sadly gazed on Shunran and Mayhan, who were now in their mother's arms as people began to mill about, awaiting Maria's decision as to what to do next. "So when Uday's people caught them and infected them with Hifuto, the other me felt it was the perfect thing."

"They'd fly down the Slot, blunder into Earth's airspace, then unleash a plague," Hensō stated with a scowl. "And she was arrogant enough to believe that the Avalonians wouldn't be on guard against such a thing?! What an idiot…!"

"She's dead, Hensō," Lara stated. "Now we have to kill all the others to make sure that poison factory in the Vernak system doesn't hurt anyone else."

People tensed. "The base there has been converted to bio-war research?!" Maria asked.

The replica of the heiress to one of Uru's largest fortunes nodded. "Yes, Commander. Using biological weapons on key targets has always been part of the Imperial Round's plan to overthrow the government and restore the Empire. It was quite easy for the other me to convince Father to have Yethis loan over a cup or two of the Hifuto virus to allow us to clone it. Right now — at least, according to the last report Treya passed on to the other me — there's about a thousand kilograms of virus-infected tissue that can be deployed in missile warheads. Just load them up in small craft beyond the Saturn orbit line and fire them in on Earth."

Hearing that, the intelligence officer/master psychic sighed. No doubt, the copies of Lara's memories now being reviewed by Heather Thompkins' staff would reveal the very same thing soon enough. "What happens if we do a mass wake-up of your sisters?"

"All the templates would be killed, of course. That would totally wipe out all the people in the Vernak system, plus kill Insa and her friends back on Uru," Lara stated. "But that won't eliminate the Hifuto virus on the space station there."

"We could do a fast strike with this ship," Kakazu proposed. "That system — even if it's next door to Spotakite space — is unclaimed. Kill all the people there so that they couldn't pump out a distress call when we go in, then fly in to blast the place apart. Intergalactic precedent allows this sort of thing, Maria."

"Would that be what you'd recommend, Commander?"

Everyone tensed on hearing that voice, then all — save Negako, of course — snapped to attention as Heather Thompkins walked into the space, accompanied by Brian Gamblin, Laxmanrao Acharekar and Pierre Alexandre. After the admiral bade them to carry on, Kakazu sighed. "Yes, Admiral, that is exactly what I'd recommend in this case. We have a credible and proven threat against both Earth and the Avalonians by a hostile force, a force prepared to unleash weapons of mass destruction on our peoples. If the threat is proven — which is easily provided by the memories from Lara and all the girls here — then a pre-emptive strike against the source of the target is seen as acceptable throughout the local cluster."

"But wouldn't that risk revealing our own capabilities?"

Eyes locked on Kasumi. "What do you mean, Kasumi?" Hensō asked.

The elder Miyamoto daughter sighed. "Well, when Kakazu stated what's considered an acceptable response to this type of threat, I remembered what Hiromi did when we went to Yaminokuni. We didn't openly charge out to challenge the _Redemption_ and all the people on that ship. We lured them into a trap — which they didn't expect — and defeated them with ease. Even better, we kept the attention of those people on Uru and elsewhere who might not approve of our having these ships turned away by allowing Miss Negako's girlfriend to awaken as an Avalonian and use her powers to destroy the hulk of the _Redemption_ when Miss Kuohu and her friends brought Hensō's parents to Yaminokuni to attend Izabel's wedding. And the news of the return of the War Hawks to full-time duty has got out in the general news media all across Earth. Isn't that sort of thing monitored on Triton?"

People nodded. "That being controlled by Field Marshal Pukaze now in her role as the Regent," Maria stated. "And she is good friends with Hensō's adopted sister Negau."

"What are you proposing, Kasumi?" Heather asked.

Kasumi's cheeks reddened as she felt a surge of quiet pride flood her on noting that the powerful arch-mage sorceress who now was the military commander of the Earth Defence Force was asking _**her**_ for advice on something as incredibly important as _this_! Taking a deep breath, she gazed down on the unmoving gynoids laid out on their stretchers. "We — much that I don't like proposing something like this — kill all the people Lara's other-self gathered as allies in this matter. Once that's done, we send a private message to the Spotakite government, informing them of what we discovered in the Vernak system. Let THEM make the revelation to the galaxy at large." She then gazed on Kakazu. "Is Vernak close to Seifukusu space, Kakazu?"

The former corvette mistress nodded. "It's right on the border."

"Then we also inform the Seifukusu about this as well," Kasumi stated. "This would be seen as a very serious threat to them, wouldn't it? Hifuto affects that race as well, doesn't it?" After noting all the Urusians in the hangar nod in agreement, Kasumi then smiled. "Let the government back in Onishuto take the hit for allowing such 'spoiled brats' to run crazy like that, potentially provoking an intergalactic war with the Seifukusu Dominion — which could involve other races — because of illegal biological warfare research so close to their home territory. Convince the Spotakites to invite the Seifukusu in to observe the destruction of the facility at Vernak to keep the peace. I doubt the Urusians would like that sort of thing happening."

"Even better, the Noukiites could be invited into this as a neutral third party to keep the peace between the Imperial Houses and the Federation," Kakazu added. "That's something many in Onishuto would HATE to see happen…but what could they do about it?" She shrugged. "Once the bodies are found, it would be proven that Urusian citizens were involved in this…and once the deaths on Asteroid 494D are compared to the death of Skelad Lara on Tahupraemiku and the others elsewhere, there's the conspiracy. That would allow Negau to carry out a further crackdown — once we pass on all the memories of all these girls to her — to root out anyone else who might cause trouble."

"And it would make it seem to many on Uru that doing ANYTHING concerning Earth or the Avalonians would lead to death," Vanna added. "After all, the station records and the memories from all the gynoids would show their other-selves' plot against us."

"Which will — hopefully! — convince people there to back off and leave things be," Hensō breathed out. "I doubt it, though. My people are pretty stubborn."

"Do they want to face Mother of All Fight Scenes Mark II?" Heather asked.

A shake of the head and a giggle escaped Lum's twin. "Nope! They're not THAT stubborn!"

"You will ask Deannette for her assistance, Heather?" Negako wondered.

"Naturally," the admiral answered before taking a deep breath. "Colonel Alexandre?"

The American army infectious diseases expert tensed. "Ma'am?"

"As a representative of the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases — ordained by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1921 as the lead investigative agency concerning any possible biological warfare attack on Earth or the Avalonians — what is your conclusion concerning the evidence presented today from the memories of Skelad Lara concerning what she and her friends were planning?"

The Louisiana native sighed. "Admiral Thompkins, under the clauses of UNSCR 1921, I have no choice but to conclude that Terrans and Avalonians alike are now under a confirmed and credible threat by potential enemy forces, intending to use weapons of mass destruction against us in the form of the Hifuto virus. I would immediately recommend that all measures that can be used to halt this threat are taken."

"Thank you, Colonel. Captain Acharekar — as the commanding officer of Indian Naval Starship _Ujjayini_, the starship that rescued the unwilling carriers of the biological warfare attack Colonel Alexandre just confirmed has been initiated against our planet and our friends — do you concur with that conclusion?"

"Under the specific clauses of UNSCR 1921, I do concur, Admiral Thompkins," the Indian captain stated with a bow of his head. "I recommend a swift and decisive counter-blow against these beings to ensure the threat is permanently eliminated and those who would unleash such a threat against us made to never again threaten us."

She nodded. "So be it. Captain Gamblin, you witnessed these statements?"

"I did indeed, Admiral. I will gladly testify to their veracity if so requested by higher authority," Gamblin stated with a nod of his head.

Heather then sighed. It was post time. "Fine. Negako, how soon can we eliminate our targets?"

Negako smirked. "I need volunteers with mesonium-lined gloves," she clearly called out. "A total of two hundred-and-nineteen people. We will do a mass _tre'cha_ to allow Lara's friends to live at last as bioroids. I will provide the necessary extra ki energy to kill their templates." On noting people just gaping at her, the ninjutsu grandmaster closed her eyes. "I would _**suggest**_ we move with alacrity!" she then snapped.

_That_ got people moving!

* * *

Deck A12 Aft, Ataru's guest cabin, fifteen minutes later…

"Ataru, Shikuko…did you feel that?"

The other two people in the bed perked on hearing Miyako's hissed voice, and then they relaxed themselves as they reached out with their own ki senses to detect what the reborn grand strategist of Xiàpī had just felt. A moment later, they relaxed.

"At least _this_ time, I won't have to rape someone," Ataru noted.

Shikuko smiled. "It would have been fun…" she coyly stated before leaning over to kiss his cheek. "But you're right, Ataru. _**Two hundred-and-nineteen**_ is a little much, even for you." She then pulled the covers closer to them.

Soon, all three of them were asleep…

* * *

The upper hangar deck, minutes later…

"Thank the Maidens, we won't kill anyone…!"

There were now 219 very upset bioroids being comforted by the people who had helped them finally come alive for the first time in the three years since their initial construction as gynoids. "It's alright, Insa," Hensō soothed as she held a weeping Insa in her arms. "It's alright. Thanks to what we discovered with Lara, we were able to stop it once and for all. Cry. It's alright. Let it out."

Insa shuddered before she sobbed as she held the replica of the woman she personally viewed as Uru's first empress in two centuries close to her. Nearby, a stoic-looking Treya was holding a wailing Miyana in her arms; their other-selves had been lovers and they themselves had felt the urge to form a bond-mating activate in their souls as soon as they had been shifted over from their old bodies. Kasumi was hugging them both. "Stupid thing!" the replica of the space-bike gang leader hissed before she leaned down to tenderly kiss her future bond-mate's right horn bud, which made Miyana lightly swoon even if she was moaning. "Stupid thing…doing something like THAT…!"

"You helped stop it, Treya," Kasumi soothed. "Yes, it was a terrible thing to kill your other-self…but you had no choice. Your programming wouldn't allow it."

A shaky nod of the head from the other woman. "Yeah…thank the Maidens for that…!" She then gazed with tear-filled eyes at the beautiful Terran-turned-Avalonian who was now comforting her. "You a healer, Miss Kasumi? You really feel like one, you know."

"I plan to train as one," Kasumi confirmed, blushing at the fact that Treya had sensed that about her. "The chief medical officer of this ship is helping me get into university in Canada so I can start in September."

Treya nodded. "Yeah, you feel like one to me," she said as she leaned over to kiss Kasumi's cheek. "You gonna bond with a healer? That program in you is turned on."

Kasumi smiled as she gazed on Narumi, who had come over to hold Lara; even if she herself had undergone this hours before, she had felt the waves of sorrow and shame from her sisters and had nearly collapsed to her knees and wept at their pain. Gazing on the sexy redhead tomboy holding the person that Treya herself viewed as both friend and sister, the replica space-bike gang leader smiled. "Nice choice."

"Yes. It's wonderful when our bodies do that for us, isn't it?" Kasumi mused.

Treya blinked, and then she gazed down at Miyana. "Yeah…"

A shrill whistle echoed from the front end of the hangar deck. People turned to see a smiling man in the uniform of a cook, the crown of an air force warrant officer on his shoulders, gazing on them. "I'm happy to announce that — when you ladies are ready for it, of course — your first meals as Avalonians await you all in Cafeteria Three," Warrant Officer Kent Mason proudly declared.

Almost in response, someone's empty stomach creaked out. People blinked before roaring laughter echoed through the hangar deck…

* * *

The planet Uru, downtown Onishuto, an hour later…

"**_WHAT?!_**"

The flustered middle-aged Seishin man took a deep breath. "It's true, Captain. We just got the report from the local security box. Aruka Insa was found dead in her apartment twenty minutes ago. Preliminary examination of the corpse indicates a massive burning-out of many of her brain cells. Virtually the same…"

"As how Skelad Lara died," Redet Negau finished for her top field investigator.

He nodded. "Yes, Captain," Funsai Hokuro stated. "I've already ordered our people to take over the investigation, not to mention monitor for other such incidents."

Negau nodded. Hokuro was as honest a field intelligence officer as one could find in the Urusian Defence Intelligence Directorate, having never been swayed by the various political factions jockeying for total control at the top from performing whatever mission was laid out before him with professionalism and panache. Once she had been promoted to take Azu Des' place as chief of the DID, Negau had made Hokuro her chief of internal security investigations…which had been a clear sign to those who might oppose her within the ranks of the Directorate that she wouldn't tolerate any sort of mutiny against her command. While he had not been in charge of the teams who had moved to eliminate the members of the Imperial Round over the last couple of weeks, it had been Hokuro and his subordinates that had written _finis_ to the careers — and in many cases, the lives — of many of Seq Yethis' cronies. It hadn't been enough, though; there were still far too many people who — even if they wouldn't openly support an Imperial Restoration — thought like Yethis and his friends did, which would eventually get them into a war with people they couldn't hope to defeat.

For the sake of her people's future, that simply couldn't be allowed.

Taking a deep breath, Negau sat back in her chair. Skelad Lara had been on the top of her new list of potential targets once the "open" Imperials were either killed, jailed or exiled from Uru. While she hadn't done anything that had earned her any official attention by the DID, she was too much the daddy's girl to NOT have supported the Imperial cause to one extent or another…and Skelad Slan had been involved in the Imperial Round right up to his horn-buds! Given her potential wealth and the political influence she could exert because of that wealth — even if she was Lum's age! — Lara was a potential lightning rod for like-minded people to be attracted to. It had been noted by DID's people that Lara and Insa were friends even if the latter was old enough to be the former's mother…and the latter was also known to have had a son who had been killed by the Yizibajohei when they had attacked Konton months ago. Their shared wealth was quite large by Urusian standards…and with money, it would have been quite easy to obtain all sorts of wonderful things to press any sort of attack on anyone that had earned their ire. As to who they could have been…

"Keep an eye on this situation," she then bade.

Hokuro nodded as he walked out of the room. Remotely locking the door from her desk terminal, Negau then pulled out her space telephone. Keying in a special encryption lock, she dialled a long series of numbers. A moment later, the other end answered:

"Pukaze."

"It's me."

"Negau-chan!" the current Regent of Triton — whom Negau had dated from time to time when the former had been a junior officer and the latter slowly rising through the ranks of the Neptunian military — called out. Both women spoke Japanese given that Negau's adopted sisters and Pukaze's cousins were friends with the most famous Terran teenager alive today. "What's wrong? Did something happen on Uru?"

"Oh, nothing much…other than another dead body like Lara's."

She could _feel_ the surprise from the other woman. "Another one?"

"Aruka Insa."

"Oh. _Her_," Pukaze dryly declared. That was understandable, of course; Insa was not known for her respect for any sentient race other than her own. The fact that Pukaze had closed off the Central Warp Chamber from outside use in the wake of the attempted invasion of the Moroboshi home over a week ago — despite that using the Chamber for military purposes was illegal under many various treaties between the Kingdom of Neptune-Triton and other worlds, not to mention being an act that directly threatened the sovereignty of a planet now under the protection of the Imperial Dominion of Noukiios — had earned the current regent a vile diatribe from Insa on her daily info-net broadcast. "So what happened? Are you getting Hokuro-kun to look into this?"

Negau grinned. "Keeping an eye for others who might die the same way. Kaze-chan, we BOTH know this has 'Moroboshi Hiromi' written all over it!"

An amused titter responded. Both women had been in total awe of the sneaky ploy Hiromi used to deal with the _Redemption_ and the maniacs who had stolen that ship for their own uses; all one had to do was watch the insanity inside the chambers of the Galactic Federation on Tahupraemiku to see that. "You wish me to call her and confirm this?"

"If you wouldn't mind."

"I'll call her, Negau-chan."

"Love you."

"Always."

The link was severed. Negau took a deep breath as she sat back in her chair. "So what the hell did they do to piss _you_ off, Hiromi?" she wondered aloud…

* * *

Triton, Kōri City, minutes later…

"There are two Haida-class ships near the Ceres orbit line?"

"Yes, My Princess. Also, a Yashi-class corvette is there; it's now on the upper flight deck of Her Majesty's Canadian Starship _Haida_," the captain in charge of the central operations monitoring unit of the Royal Neptunian Defence Forces stated with a bow of his head before waving to the large view screen at the front end of the room. "The first vessel to arrive on the scene was the Indian Naval Starship _Ujjayini_. It was on what we believe were commissioning trials in what the Terrans designate as 'Frontier Sector 61' when an Urusian star boat arrived in system almost a day ago their time."

Pukaze blinked. "A star boat? That's hardly a threat to a Haida-class ship."

"Agreed, My Princess. However, the star boat was visited by that strange Terran woman with the energy staff that's been reported to have appeared on Nerio several times since shortly after the Liberation of the Avalonians some months ago."

The regent of Neptune blinked. "_**Her?**_ Why would she appear?"

"We don't know, but shortly after she appeared, the _Ujjayini_ took the star boat into one of her boat bays. The bay in question was kept _**depressurized**_, My Princess."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"Plague boat," an ashen-faced Pukaze breathed out.

And it was the only thing that made any sense. Star boats were harmless civilian craft built for children to use when they wanted to learn how to fly in hyperspace. They were not armed and were — save for the normal dangers dealing with a craft driven by anti-matter provoked — totally harmless, especially in the face of a warship that could potentially duel a Lecasur's Soul-class star destroyer and WIN! But if the captain of the _Ujjayini_ had ordered that the star boat in question be brought aboard his ship — Pukaze didn't have the name of the lucky fellow assigned to command India's first starship, but given that women were only now assuming such high rank to command surface warships in all the major navies of Earth, it seemed logical to conclude that the captain of _Ujjayini_ was a man — in full vacuum, it was quite easy to understand why. No biological disease — especially something as ghastly as Hifuto Syndrome — could be transmitted in a vacuum; keeping such a "plague boat" sealed off from the benign environment of a warship's interior spaces by putting a virtual wall of no atmosphere whatsoever was the easiest form of protection from such viruses.

"Yes, My Princess. Shortly after _Haida_ rendezvoused with _Ujjayini_, a United States Air Force Star Flare deep space shuttle came onto the scene, accompanied by the Yashi-class corvette; I believe it might be one of the vessels seized by the Avalonians when they were liberated. The Star Flare bore the markings of the 20th Space Airlift Squadron, which is the support squadron assigned by the 436th Airlift Wing of the United States Air Force's Eighteenth Air Force to United States Joint Forces Station Benenson."

Pukaze blinked. "No doubt, carrying a biological warfare defence team from the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases."

He nodded. "Yes, My Princess."

She breathed out. _What in Kōri's Name is WRONG with people on Uru?!_ she thundered to herself, though she kept a serene look on her face; the harsh demands of her native culture on expressing open emotion were even more strict than what was seen as acceptable in Japan on Earth. Indeed, noting what just happened — and noting WHO had been killed, both on Tahupraemiku and Uru, recently — it was easy to conclude what had been provoked on Uru…and what had been the joint Earth/New Avalon response to same.

_Stupid girl!_ she sneered to herself as an image of Skelad Lara flashed past her mind's eye before she breathed out. "Prepare my ship, Captain. Send a signal to _Haida_. I would assume Admiral Thompkins is aboard that vessel right now. I'd like to speak to her about this incident. Standard flag-of-truce rules; send another message to Admiral T'achnuk on Tengsei just in case she wishes to send an intermediary."

He bowed deeply to her. "At once, My Princess."

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) As stated in the writer's notes for _Phoenix From the Ashes_ Part 26, ship's companies in the Canadian Navy are split apart into **departments** based on broad areas of responsibilities (command/administrative, deck, combat, combat systems engineering, marine systems engineering, logistics, air). Each department is then divided into **divisions** which centralize people with like duties into a single sub-section of the ship's company, such as the **Medical Division** for all health services personnel assigned to a ship or the **Victualling Division** for all the ship's cooks.

2) Canadian Forces trade notes: A **Naval Electronics Sensor Operator** (**NES OP**) operates the radar and radio detection devices, radar jamming systems and decoys and gun/missile-firing equipment carried on major naval warships. In essence, these are the people who actually fight the ship when it goes into battle.

3) The tale of Ataru's friend and his problems with very amorous companion gynoids is based on the 2003 three-part hentai manga series _Petit Roid 3_ by Kōda Tomohiro. I wouldn't recommend the series at all due to its overtly paedophilic nature even if the "children" depicted here are all gynoids themselves who have an ability to grow up into either teenagers or adults on command.

4) The **Gojūni Sanji** (literally "Fifty-two Mountain Temples") is my take-off on a running joke that has appeared quite often in _The Destroyer_ series of action adventure novels created in 1971 by the team of Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir: **The Steps to Sexual Fulfilment**, which is one of the various sub-schools of the **Sinanju** (which, given the word is supposed to be Korean, should be spelt _Shin__anju_) school of martial arts as taught to lead character **Remo Williams** by the current grandmaster, **Chiun**. For a wonderful demonstration of the Steps and how it can affect those the practitioner targets, please read the really funny story _Harry Potter and the Sun Source_ by **Clell Harmon** (listed at this website as "Clell65619"), marked as one of my favourites at this website.

5) The **Air Reserve Flights** (**AR FLT**) in the Canadian Air Force were initiated in the 1990s when the modern wing concept was instituted. Prior to this, the **Air Reserve Group** (**ARG**) of Air Command (first formed in 1976) was composed of squadrons based from Edmonton to Montréal, plus air reserve augmentation flights based elsewhere. On the disbandment of ARG in 1996, the reserve elements of the Air Force were restructured to the modern AR FLT concept. These days, air reserve flights are co-located with all air force wings as well as squadrons physically separated from their parent wings. Naturally, Toge will administratively become part of **21 Air Reserve Flight** (**21 AR FLT**).

6) The incident Maria Kennison was involved with concerning the naval intelligence officer from Halifax mentioned here is a reflection of what was discovered in real life concerning **Jeffrey Delisle** (born 1971). In real life, Delisle — a former sub-lieutenant in the Canadian Navy — joined as a naval reservist in 1996 and switched to full-time service in 2001, receiving his commission from the ranks in 2008. He began selling information to the Russians in July 2007 due to marital issues (he discovered his wife was having an affair). The American FBI got a tip-off concerning what he was doing in December 2011, triggering his arrest the next month. Pleading guilty to to breach of trust and two counts of passing secret information to a foreign entity in October 2012, he was sentenced to twenty years (minus time served) on 8 February 2013. He was formally stripped of his rank and decorations and expelled from the Canadian Forces on 13 February 2013.

7) Translation: **J2** — A joint forces military formation headquarters staff officer responsible for intelligence matters (note that the "Operations" sub-title indicates active military intelligence gathering activities); **GRU** — Acronym of **Glavnoe Razvedyvatel'noe Upravlenie** ("Main Intelligence Directorate"), the Russian Armed Forces' in-house intelligence agency (the full title of the group is **Glavnoe Razvedyvatel'noe Upravlenie General'nogo Štava** [**GRU GŠ**], meaning "Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff").

As an aside, **Headquarters 1st Canadian Division** (**HQ 1 CDN DIV**) in Kingston was — at the time of this story — still designated **Canadian Forces Joint Headquarters** (**CFJHQ**); the old division headquarters unit was changed to a joint forces format on 1 April 2000 and made an administrative and operational element of the **Canadian Expeditionary Forces Command** (**CEFCOM**), the formation then responsible for all Canadian military operations outside the Dominion's sovereign territory. The official announcement of the transformation from CFJHQ to HQ 1 CDN DIV was made on 19 May 2010; the official stand-up ceremony was on 7 October that year; at that time, the headquarters unit was shifted to the administrative control of **Land Forces Command** (**LFC**) in Ottawa. This is the reason that Maria Kennison's position is given a "J" prefix title and not a "G" prefix to mark a pure-Army formation headquarters staff position.

8) **Aruka Insa** was first introduced in _The Ishinomaki Years_. Her son, **Aruka Popok**, was first introduced in _The Senior Year_ story "Towards the Unstoppable Future"; this was also the story where **Funsai Hokuro** first appeared. The natives of **Spotak** (demonym: **Spotakite**) were introduced in the _TSY_ story "Great Father Ataru Stage Six: Auction."

9) As is well known, a **United Nations Security Council Resolution** (**UNSCR**) is a binding declaration issued by the Security Council of the United Nations for action by any of the pan-national alliance's subordinate agencies. In the universe of this story, the Earth Defence Force had yet to be formally established when UNSCR 1921 was passed unanimously on 5 May 2010, the Security Council — and the five permanent members of the body (Russia, China, America, Britain and France) — were anticipating the formation of such an agency and were making preparations to ensure the proper support structures were in place before it was established.

As an aside, in real life, UNSCR 1921 (passed 12 May 2010) was issued to extend the mandate for the **United Nations Mission in Nepal** (**UNMIN**) — effectively first mandated by the passing of UNSCR 1740 on 23 January 2007 — until 15 September 2010, stressing that arrangements should be made for the withdrawal of the mission by that date.

10) United States Air Force unit notes:

The **20th Space Airlift Squadron** (**20 SPAS**) is based on the real-life **20th Airlift Squadron** (**20 AS**), which was first founded as an air corps ferrying squadron in 1942, reconstituted as a medium air transport squadron in 1952, made a heavy transport squadron two years later, became a troop-carrier squadron in 1965 and became a military airlift squadron (responsible for all forms of military air transport) the next year. The squadron didn't assume its last title until 1991; the squadron was disbanded in 1997. In the universe of this story, the squadron was reconstituted as a Star Flare transport unit on 1 March 2010, the sixty-eighth anniversary of the squadron's initial activation.

The 20th Space Airlift Squadron's parent formation, the **436th Airlift Wing** (**436 AW**), is one of the two wings based at **Dover Air Force Base** near Dover, the capital city of Delaware located near the shores of Delaware Bay sixty kilometres south-southwest of Philadelphia. One of two wings authorized the fly the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy — the formation also flies the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III — 436 AW was first formed in 1943 as a troop-carrier group, deactivated after the end of World War Two, was reactivated as a reserve troop-carrier wing in 1949 and called to full duty in 1966. These days, 436 AW is the main heavy-lift formation of the Air Force.

And the 436th Airlift Wing's parent formation is **Eighteenth Air Force** (**18 AF**), headquartered at **Scott Air Force Base** in southwest Illinois about twenty-five kilometres east of St. Louis. A young numbered air force in the USAF order of battle, 18 AF was first established in 2003 and was placed in charge of all war-fighting elements of the Air Force's **Air Mobility Command** (**AMC**), the top-level formation in charge of both a world-wide airlift system and the Air Force's in-house air refuelling assets.


	7. The Quiet Place On The River

_Haida_, Deck A12 Aft, Admiral's Meeting Room, start of the first dog watch…

"I…do not want to believe this."

"The evidence, Pukaze, suggests otherwise."

Hearing that from the seemingly ageless Terran magical warrior seated at the other end of the table, the current Regent of Neptune shook her head before she gazed down at the preliminary situation report written up by Captain Douglas Tremblay and Warrant Officer Don Glas concerning the incident surrounding the intrusion of a star boat in Terran space and what was discovered in the wake of that. Also present in the room at this time were Brian Gamblin and Pierre Alexandre. The former was Heather Thompkins' flag captain and had the look and feel of an experienced warship commander; Pukaze knew the submariner's name but had not met him until now. The latter was the current commander of the detachment of the United States' primary biological warfare defence unit forward deployed in space; he had the aura of both a dedicated doctor and a man who considered infectious diseases like Hifuto his personal enemy to be vanquished by any way possible. Pukaze's own flag captain, Horan — he was nominally in charge of the Royal Neptunian Defence Ship _Exodus_, a cruiser-class craft that served as the flagship of the Kingdom's small space navy — was also with her. The Terrans were quick to note the looks of shock and disgust etched in the faces of the two Neptunians, members of a race who were known across the local cluster for their stoicism even in the face of great catastrophes. And while neither Gamblin nor Alexandre were psychic, Heather was a master at the magical mind arts…and Maria Kennison was also aboard the ship, currently in the aft upper wardroom metres away from this meeting room; the intelligence officer's telepathy would pick up on anything the admiral herself missed.

"If I may be so bold, Admiral, what do you intend to do with this information?" the captain of the _Exodus_ then enquired. "This is, as your people call it, _casus belli_."

"With the deaths of Skelad Lara and the others who allied with her in this plot to attack our peoples, we consider the incident closed, Captain Horan," the woman known on Earth commonly as "Spitfire" answered calmly. "I am duly authorized by the United Nations and the member nations of that organization, under various Security Council resolutions, to carry out proper retaliatory strikes against any alien threat against us without the necessity to do the 'May I?' dance with my civilian superiors back on Earth." As Pukaze snickered on hearing that and Horan smothered his own amused grin, the Canadian arch-mage added, "However, we all know that the facility on Asteroid 494D is still intact even if the people manning it are now dead. It's in a system that is not officially claimed by any power, but borders the claimed space of both the Republic of Spotak and the Imperial Houses of the Seifukusu Dominion. I shudder to think what the Magate Round will do if they ever got wind of what was there…in, to borrow the Russian phrase for it, uncontrolled circumstances. You, Pukaze, can help create a controlled set of circumstances concerning the revelation of this particular issue."

Pukaze blinked. "Full disclosure?"

"Full discovery by the Spotakite government. They have ships that can reach into that system, don't they?" Heather asked. At the Neptunian leader's nod, the Canadian admiral then shrugged. "Then I'm sure your friends on that planet can dress it up in a way that can show them in a positive, innocent light. They had no idea what Lara and her people were doing there. Have them send a patrol ship to Asteroid 494D. Have them discover the corpses there…and the tanks of Hifuto virus. Once they make that official discovery, it then is turned over to the Galactic Federation. Also, in a show of peace and trust to the Imperial Houses, have Spotak invite inspectors from Dominos — and Noukiios as well as a neutral third party — to look over this facility. Go for full disclosure. As to how this will be accepted in Onishuto, well…" A shake of the head. "Hopefully, the lack of trust towards the government on Uru this discovery might engender elsewhere will make those people finally open their eyes and realize they can't allow their citizens to act willy-nilly without any sense of self-discipline wherever they go. Would your people allow them to do something like this on Triton? Would people on other planets allow that?"

A smirk crossed the regent's face. "Personally, I agree…and will instruct our ambassador to Tahupraemiku to say the same thing when this does go public. I have a friend on Spotak — one of their ruling councillors — who would gladly go along with this once we relay this to them." Pukaze then sighed. "But I also happen to understand Urusian social culture and thought, Admiral Thompkins. They've been carrying this bleeding wound in their collective psyche concerning what the Seifukusu did to them for nearly a millennia; it influences everything they've done since they liberated themselves. Many races — perhaps improperly so — have understood that. Professor Rhetor's people did that as well when Lum's father came to initiate the Tag Race last summer." She then sighed. "Then Ataru — yes, for proper reasons! — crushed Hensō's horns and divorced her when he found out the truth of what happened to Lum." Another sigh escaped her. "I now believe that when he did that, Ataru also effectively delivered a collective slap in the face to all of Hensō's people. In just a space of two months after that event, they were literally shut out of Earth, the Noukiites were invited into this system without hesitation, the Niphentaxians — the Urusians' most powerful allies — were literally smashed down and rendered militarily impotent…"

"Um, excuse me, ma'am. Are you saying Mister Moroboshi should have _ignored_ the Avalonians?" Alexandre cut in. "Much less that anti-matter bomb in Tomobiki?"

"No, of course not," Pukaze stated. "But the Urusians don't really see those things, Colonel. Yes, it's simply wrong, but they haven't sat back and thought about the moral implications of what the Niphentaxians did with the Avalonians. And yes, Colonel, your people as well." She sighed. "I'm very close friends with an Urusian; Lum's adopted sister Negau to be exact. She's a very rational person; one can't serve in the Defence Intelligence Directorate and NOT be that way. But most Urusians have deeply ingrained beliefs that rule how they live their lives. Look at how passionate Hensō was with Ataru when they were 'married?'" She sat back in her chair. "I don't want to see the Urusians as a whole hurt over stupid acts of insanity like this. Most normal people on that planet wouldn't ever CONCEIVE of what Lara tried to do. It's wrong in their eyes. But…" She shrugged. "In a way, I can understand where Lara and Insa and their friends were initially coming from. Yes, people like Tai and Toma as well. There has been a lot of inertia in Urusian society in years…and there is nothing being done to try to shake all that off. In many ways, many people on Uru want change to happen…but with the removal of Lum from the situation, there's now no spiritual leader to allow people to give their support to so that such change could happen and there's no ready mechanism to allow that change to happen."

Heather nodded. "As you might suspect, I personally interviewed people like Commander Tai and Major Toma to learn what made them join forces with Colonel Ando and Captain Sakimu in the first place. Since they were moderate Imperials, they had a much broader and more accepting understanding of the situation on their home planet than their former friends. It was quite enlightening. I also interviewed the replicas of Skelad Lara and Aruka Insa to draw a comparison between the 'moderate' and 'radical' Imperials. They said pretty much the same thing." She tapped off points on her fingers. "There's no local government to help address local issues. Any attempt at forming local councils — even at the planetary colonial level — are declared illegal by the Central Cabinet Command." Another finger was raised. "There are no means by which people who would have government skill could advance in government. The only way to do that is join the Defence Force and advance at least to the rank to the level of fleet captain or Marine colonel before they could be considered to have a junior post in government or hold a seat in the Union Council." Another finger was raised. "While freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of movement are guaranteed by the current Constitution, there's no means by which people in society could migrate to other planets beyond Urusian space to advance their own ambitions. That sort of emigration is outlawed. It was even expected that sooner or later, Hensō would return to Uru with her husband since her living on Earth was seen as just a 'long-term vacation'…which Ataru would never have gone for, never mind what Negako would have done." She then shrugged. "Pukaze, I've known you for twenty years. I've also known your parents and other leaders on Triton from the time we…" — by this, she meant the War Hawks — "…went there to see if we could help in the clean-up of Neptune. How in the name of God could your people — much less the peoples of the other Federation states — tolerate the presence of a race of people who seem to not care at all about making their lives better?"

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"You're proposing the Federation expels Uru?" Horan asked.

The Canadian flag officer shrugged. "I can't propose anything to your people, Captain. I can _suggest_ given my experience and knowledge, but I can't **_propose_**." Heather then gazed sadly on Pukaze. "That's up to you. And people like Hosha and Lupica and the others." She sighed. "You can't bow to the whims of the people running the show in Onishuto anymore. Lana has no real, effective control over his government…to say anything of his people. Look what a bunch of _**private citizens**_ almost did. Yes, there's the potential that sort of thing could happen on Earth…but we watch out for those sort of things. The Urusians don't do that." She smirked. "Look what Hensō almost did with her spacializer when she got it into her head to treat Ataru like some sort of dumb animal and move back in time to influence his future behaviour."

Pukaze groaned. She had heard of that particular incident from Ataru and his siblings on Okusei. That a woman like Hensō — who was not even a trained historian! — was allowed to have a _**time-travel device**_ for her own use…!

"It may have to go that far, My Princess," the _Exodus_' captain stated with regret; he knew that his current leader was loathe to think of something so radical like that.

A faint nod from the current Regent of Neptune. Gazing at her, Heather took a deep breath. As was just revealed minutes before, she knew Pukaze had a personal reason to balk at the idea of treating the Urusians so badly in the wake of all this…and that reason held the name "Redet Negau." Still, the field marshal had a strong sense of duty and responsibility; she wouldn't have gone through with toppling her uncle from the Throne of Kōri in the wake of the attack on the Moroboshi home if she hadn't understood her duty to her own people. And given Neptune's position literally between an Earth which was now becoming quite aware of how nasty the galaxy was and was moving to defend itself by all means possible…and allies in the Galactic Federation like Uru whose leaders no doubt wished for the innocent days before the "revelation in Onishuto" ultimately tore apart so much…!

"Agreed," Pukaze breathed out. "I don't like it…but it has to be done."

"Make sure your friend's safe, ma'am."

She blinked on hearing Alexandre's kind words, and then she smiled…

* * *

Main Cafeteria #3, an hour later…

"So your other-selves did what they did because there's just no way to effect any sort of political change on Uru whatsoever?" Jim Woodson asked as a group of people gathered around Skelad Lara and several of her friends. "I heard Uru's run by a military junta, but even in places like the Philippines and South Korea, Marcos and Pak knew that keeping the normal people happy was an important thing."

"Well, that's never really concerned leaders on Uru," Insa stated, feeling the influence of her other-self — who possessed quite powerful oratory skills — helping her explain what, to her curious hosts, seemed quite unexplainable. Then again, Canadians had always been a peacefully-minded people; their leaders had created the peacekeeping concept in the 1950s as a way of allowing warring sides to pull back from the front lines and think over what they were doing…which was still part of their military psyche even now after nine years fighting against terrorists in Afghanistan. "In your country, you have elected representatives at the local, regional, provincial — or territorial — and federal level. Other nations have the same thing, even in dictatorships like North Korea. On Uru, there's NOTHING!" She sighed. "There is something fundamentally wrong with a society where people who have grievances about some part of life _**cannot**_ do anything to convince that government to change things because that government is just too far away and too remote! What happens when people don't have proper health care or access to education or any of the other necessities of life? Who does one turn to? At least — as my other-self believed — back in the days of the Empire, the common people could turn to their local lord for help. Yes, they were treated as serfs…but as many of the nobles understood deep down, the serfs had to be kept happy unless the nobles were toppled. Which was ultimately done in the Union Revolution."

"Would you want to go back and try to change things?" Troy Mason asked.

Insa and Lara exchanged looks, and then they sighed. "I don't know if we can, Troy," the latter then stated. "I mean, literally, 'we' are all _**dead**_." She waved to herself, then Insa, then the others of the group woken hours before on the upper hangar deck who were seated amongst the Canadian service personnel who were now enjoying a quiet supper with servings of Korean pulgogi, mashed potatoes and apple sauce — in respect to the newly-born Avalonians, who couldn't eat hard foods for the first couple days of their lives as their stomachs adjusted to being in active bodies and not in cryogenetic suspension awaiting a chance at life — before they would go back to their watch stations or rack down for the evening. "Would we be accepted back on Uru after an explanation was given as to what we are and how we came into being?"

"Not fucking likely."

Eyes locked on Lorrah Treya, who was seated by the bar, enjoying supper with her bond-mate Suragh Miyana. "Because you were all fembots before you became Avalonians?" Kelley Saunders wondered before sipping her spring water.

"Yeah," Treya said. "Even if people could accept the idea of gynoids like me becoming bioroids, we'd never be accepted as equals. After all, gynoids are programmed to serve an organic master. I was built as a fuck toy, Kel!" She then waved apologetically to the others in the room. "Sorry for the language!" As people laughed at her show of contriteness, she sighed. "Right now, I personally just want to know what living a real life is all about." A wave to Miyana. "I got a beautiful girl to spend the rest of my life with. I got friends around me I can link up with to make that life good. I know the vast majority of you Terrans don't mind folks like me even if I got horns on the head. Yeah, you have the xenophobes like the jerks that I heard tried to blow up the _Arizona_…but you get stupid jerks like that everywhere! We just gotta keep an eye for them."

"Would you want to go to school?" Jean-Paul Bonnar asked.

Treya hummed. "Well, part of me actually wouldn't mind that. The other me just hated school and wanted out as soon as she could. Some stuff would come pretty easy for me. Science, math and all that. Other stuff…" She shrugged. "Well, if I'm gonna be a Canadian, I gotta learn what being a Canadian's all about, right?"

Whoops and cheers answered her. "I have a question," Insa then cut in. "Why is it only the Canadian Forces are allowing people like Tai and Toma to join up as reserve officers? I would think larger military forces like America's and India's would do that."

Laughter. "Our friends are catching up…slowly," Allain Duclerc noted.

"They're probably betting on when things'll go wrong and they can say 'I told you so' to the folks in the Land of Oz," Troy noted before slurping up some marinated beef.

The others laughed. "Well, Canada's fortune is the ultimate loss of other nations," Lara stated as she moved to finish her meal. "I'm sure once people see how good it's working out here, they'll scramble to try to catch up."

"Let's just hope poor Shunran and Mayhan don't get hurt by it," Insa said.

"Why did you say that, ma'am?" Troy asked.

"They were reborn on _Indian_ sovereign territory, remember?"

The others nodded. "Good point," Kelley breathed out…

* * *

"How are you feeling?"

Hensō — who had come down to the cafeteria to be close to Lara and her friends as they moved to form friendships with their current hosts — perked on hearing that, and then she smiled as Vincent Klein sat down beside her. Given his place as ship's chaplain, the Air Force major had the right to eat anywhere on the ship; when he had been posted aboard _Haida_, he made it a point to come down to be with the junior ranks at least one meal in a day so that if there was someone who needed to approach him for some reason, he was available for them. Also with him was his wife Alice Klein, who had remained aboard to observe her husband minister to his flock before she would go back to Borden and make her own report on events here to the Chaplain General in Ottawa, the senior military cleric in the Canadian Armed Forces. "Alright now," she confessed as she gazed over at the crowd gathered around the former Urusian-form gynoids that had been first-hand witnesses to the making of a potential tragedy. "They're alive and able to live their lives. I'm glad that Darling and Miss Negako helped them gain that."

"Well, wasn't that what the Promise of 1808 was all about?" the chaplain asked.

Lum's sister blinked, and then she nodded. "Yeah, it was." She sighed. "I don't know what I would have done had I learned about Miss Negako before that whole thing with Elle happened. Would I have understood what motivated that whole thing? Or would I have done like I once did, used my spacializer, went back in time and tried to prevent Darling from making that oath?" She then smirked. "Then again, if I _**did**_ do that, what would have stopped Miss Negako from dealing with me quite terminally in return?" She sipped her spiced tea. "I never really understood that before now."

"What's that?"

"Cause and effect," she stated. "I just reacted whenever something went wrong. Like Darling chasing girls or refusing to acknowledge our relationship or things like that. I couldn't understand it." She looked down. "Was that the curse…or me?"

"After you awoke in your new body — and after that little tumble-tussle in the Dead Grove, of course — did you ever speak to your sister about how she was like back before that whole thing on Home Base happened to you two?" he wondered.

She shrugged. "A little bit. Not that much, really. She just wanted to get the chance to finally stick the knives into Father's and Mother's backs for their abandoning her in the first place, plus spend time with her wife. And me…" A smirk crossed her face. "I was quite busy with Naoko re-learning what I should have been all along. Then reconciling with Darling and moving to make a new life for myself in Canada…"

"You seem a lot happier now," Vincent commented. "Do you know why?"

Hensō paused as she considered that, and then she sighed. "Honestly, I don't know." A frown then turned her lips. "I think part of it's because I really understand what's going on inside Darling." She then sniffed. "It's no use wishing for what happened five years ago to have NOT happened, but I find myself wishing I had my proper powers back then. Maybe I could have sensed Hiromi and Tariko and Miss Negako inside Darling's mind, then done something to help them get control over their own lives. Maybe I could have realized a lot sooner what my presence in Tomobiki was actually doing to people like Shūtarō and the Stormtroopers and everyone else. Maybe…" She shrugged. "Well, like I said, it's no use wishing to change what's in the past. Miss Negako was right. All I could do is work to make a better future for myself and those I care for."

"Which has now expanded quite greatly," he noted.

She smiled as she looked over at the other Oni and Seishin women seated amongst the junior ranks in the cafeteria. Her eyes locked on Treya at the bar as the space-bike gang leader — given that the original Treya was now a cooling corpse in that space station on Asteroid 494D, it made no sense anymore to add the phrase "replica of" before her chosen occupation now — gazed at her. Hensō smiled as Treya lifted her glass of spring water to toast her. Lum's sister winked back and blew her a kiss. Both chaplains were quick to notice. "Are you attracted to her?" Padre Alice asked.

"Many of them offered to be Naoko's and my mistresses," Hensō answered.

The elder people gaped. "Why?!" Vincent asked.

She giggled. "Well, there was a bit of a mistake made in the hangar deck earlier," Hensō stated before holding up a finger. "I think!" As both chaplains laughed, she sighed. "The whole loyalty lock thing. Now, I understand where Darling's coming from when it comes to that. He didn't look at Lara or Kazu or any of the others he took to bed and saw 'sex-droid.' He looked at them and saw 'poor girls trapped in something they shouldn't be in.' And while I know he enjoyed the act, he still felt he raped them." Another sigh escaped her. "However, even girls like Treya and Insa and the others were built as sex-droids. Yes, making them bioroids freed them of the impending _**need**_ to have those loyalty locks engaged on them…but there's the psychological _**longing**_ they all still have deep down to be with a master or mistress who loves them and they can love without reservation." She closed her eyes. "Back in the old days, when someone wanted to give themselves TOTALLY to a lord, they would kneel in front of the lord and allow the lord's hands to grasp both horn-buds. As you might know, tagging the horns equals an act of marriage. But back then, it also marked an act of loyalty." She gazed towards Lara. "Even if she sees Darling as her master deep down, Lara did that to me. All the girls we saved today did that to me. And I…" She shook her head.

"You don't know why," Alice commented.

"Tcha!" she breathed out. "I mean…I never understood all this _veneration_ people feel towards me. Onē-san never understood it either before she was allowed to get away from it all…even if it cost her her family and life back on Uru." Hensō lightly smiled. "Yes, Father and Mother kept me sheltered from the worst of it — especially from the Niphentaxians, thank Lyna! — but I still never understood it. Not from the people on Uru or in Tomobiki either. Here…" She smiled. "I'm happy here, Padre Alice. Yes, there's part of me that felt — and still feels now — that I still have to do something to make things better. Earth's now my home. Canada's my home now. I'm an Avalonian and they live on Earth and in Canada, so I have to help make sure that my people, my friends and those I love are safe and sound. But I also know…"

"You're just one person in the end," Vincent stated.

"Yes."

He smiled. "So we helped get you away from the white noise."

Lum's twin perked. "'White noise?'"

He nodded. "I've been thinking about what you've been through over the last while, ever since Ataru divorced you in Onishuto and you were made to face the ugly truths of your existence for the first time since you were born on Home Base. You said that you couldn't understand why people would put you up on a pedestal all the time, right?" At her nod, he smiled. "I think that deep down, you've always viewed all those words from those like Lara's other-self and the other-selves of all her friends as being really no different than what the Niphentaxians always said about you. After all, how did you feel about them?"

"I hated them!" Hensō hissed out. "Yes, not all of them were bad…but every time I ran into people like Ōgi and those like him, it was always all the empty praise and worship for something that Onē-san actually did ten years ago…and whom ANY sentient being with any sort of moral sense would have done!" She then blinked before sipping her tea. "Are you saying that I equated people like Lara to Ōgi, Padre?"

"I think so. Now, I'm no psychologist, but I think that a trained practitioner would conclude the same thing," the chaplain said. "And I think that's what made you fall so hard for Ataru in the long term. He didn't do those things to you, did he?"

A snort escaped her. "Never! Darling hated me at first for the hell I put him through during the Tag Race." Hensō then sighed. "He mellowed out eventually and came to accept me as a friend, maybe the only friend he really had in Tomobiki. But be like Ōgi?" She smirked. "Darling may be many things, but a mindless fan-boy he is NOT!"

All three people laughed. "What happened after he divorced you?" Alice then asked.

Hensō blinked. "I was hurt. Badly. But I couldn't do anything about it. He did what was proper when one seeks a divorce amongst my kind: Rip off the horns and crush them in front of my face…and in front of almost a thousand witnesses." She sighed. "And while there was a small part of me that was really angry at him, I was made powerless by having my horns ripped off like he did. And with Miss Negako — even if I didn't understand what she was — and Lady K'ekhech and Lord Nengmek'i there…?"

"You forgave him, didn't you?" Alice asked.

"I did. Yes, it was ultimately after the whole thing in the Dead Grove and I got my Avalonian powers back…but when I sensed what happened inside him all that time…" Hensō shook her head. "I couldn't even think of being angry at Darling anymore when I sensed his memories of the _helplessness_ he felt deep down at being forced into things he couldn't understand. He resented me so much…" She sniffed back the tears forming in her eyes. "Well, perhaps it was for the best."

"Maybe it was," Vincent stated. "God — as I see it — teaches us harsh lessons to remind us that being selfish is a mortal sin. You had a harsh lesson…but you learned from it. Even more so, you forgave the man who God — again, as I see it — used to force you to learn that lesson. And it made a better, stronger relationship between you two. Tell me — and if you don't want to answer this, I can understand — but do you plan to ask him to father your children when you and Naoko decide it's time to start a family?"

"Yes, I do," Hensō stated before smirking. "As a matter of fact, Shikuko insists that the day I allow Darling to make me a woman should be just before Naoko graduates from _Venture_ and we get together at New Year's to celebrate the first sunrise in 2012." She then frowned. "I'm sorry about that. I forgot that you people don't like that."

"Hensō, you are a married woman by the standards of your culture," Alice stated. "And by the standards of your culture, you view Ataru as a good candidate to be the father of your children…as I'm sure Naoko will see him as once she gets out of the 'Onii-sama' stage of her relationship with him. There's nothing wrong with wanting to explore your relationship physically with him as much as you do with Naoko."

Hearing that acceptance from her, Lum's twin then sighed. "Well, I'm glad that this happened to me," she then admitted. "I have a bond-mate. A prospective child-mate. And a whole tonne of would-be mistresses." As both chaplains laughed, she then sighed. "But there's something else." She then sighed. "I'm worried."

"About what?" Alice asked.

"That this whole thing with Hifuto isn't the end of moves from Uru to try to force their way back into the lives of Terrans, Padre Alice," Hensō mused. "I said it on the hangar deck when we helped Insa and her friends wake up. The Urusian people are very stubborn about a lot of things. They won't tolerate the idea of being cut off from Earth for long, especially after First Contact was made and people from Uru — Damasu, Ten and me — lived there for a half-year, being so readily accepted at the same time. They'll want to force their way back in. And…" She then sniffed. "I was proud to volunteer to be the tag champion when I came here last summer. We were trying to protect you from the Ipraedies, who kidnapped five hundred of your people — Ayami and Tsukihana, plus their families, amongst them — in preparation for an invasion. You people don't know how _fascinated_ my people are about your kind. I felt I was doing the right thing even if I had to act like an ogre around Darling during the Tag Race." She shook her head. "To have the door slammed into their faces didn't make people on Uru happy."

"Do you have an idea what to do about it?" Vincent wondered.

"Not really."

"Well, maybe that should be your next project," _Haida_'s chaplain then proposed.

Hensō blinked…

* * *

The main observation lounge, that moment…

"Onii-sama, I brought some food for you…eh?"

Ataru — whose left eye was glowing — perked on hearing that sucked-in breath from Yamaguchi Seina, and then he smiled. "**Don't be scared, Seina. I do this every once in a while to help learn how to control the powers the Master gave me.**"

Seina gazed at him, and then she smiled as she placed the tray down on the small coffee table beside the couch he was sitting on. "What's wrong, Onii-sama?"

He sighed. "**Lara did something I have a problem with…but there was no way to really avoid it, I guess**," he explained. "**Insa and the other girls were woken up directly as bioroids without their loyalty locks being engaged. Because of that, there was this void inside their hearts where their loyalty to a master would be if they were still gynoids. She sensed it, then mind-melded with them to let them…**"

"Accept you as their spiritual master and owner," she finished.

"**Yes.**"

She leaned down to kiss his cheek. "Don't worry about it, Onii-sama. They'll grow out of it eventually. And you are a wonderful person deep down." She then giggled. "Why, Ai and I are starting to see you as a potential child-mate…even if it'll be years before we contemplate starting our own family." Her cheeks reddened on saying that.

He smirked on noting that. Matsu'ura Ai — another girl modelled on one of the ladies of the cast of _Ojō-sama Express_ as Seina was — was a prospective hull technician. She and Seina had come together almost immediately after the mass wake-up of _Haida_'s plank owners on the trip to Yaminokuni a week before. And while it was simply as cute as the dickens to see Seina and Ai — not to mention other couples amongst the Avalonians on _Haida_ — act like lovestruck teenagers whenever they were together and not busy doing their duties, it still emphasized how much these girls were still so young emotionally deep in their hearts and souls. It had the potential to create trouble…but people like Seina and Ai also had the strength of _**thousands**_ of years of Sagussan genetic evolution in their DNA that drove the whole _marei'cha_ process backing them up. Atop that, there had been the months since their rescue by Ki Tsukihana and Hakaru Ayami when they had been no more than living logic machines, doing their duties aboard _Haida_ as they awaited the day of the ship's commissioning into the Canadian Navy and the start of their real lives.

_They'll become like normal people over time, Ataru. Just like Lara's friends will_, he thought to himself before allowing himself to relax, the burning glow of the Te'a in his left eye fading. "Thanks for the supper, Seina," he said.

She nodded, then headed back to the wardroom. Taking up the supper tray — he was glad that the stewards had given him a serving of kimch'i as well as his favoured Noukiite spiced ginseng tea — he nibbled on the strips of pulgogi as he gazed on the passing star field; _Haida_ and _Ujjayini_ were now heading back to Earth with the whole issue concerning Shunran and Mayhan resolved to everyone's satisfaction. _Almost everyone's_, he mentally added as he remembered what he had helped discover concerning Skelad Lara and the other gynoids that had been stored aboard Azu Kakazu's corvette — still on _Haida_'s upper flight deck; it would be taken under Avalonian control and recycled for parts — over the last three years. And while he knew through looking into Hensō's and Damasu's memories that the average Urusian would be horrified to learn what the original Lara had planned to do, there were the "wise and learned people" in government at Onishuto — he had the displeasure to meet some of them back in the wake of the Liberation, when the Empress of Noukiios had dragged President Hozan Lana into her presence to lay down the law about the full imposition of Paragraph Ten of the Tag Race Treaty; even the non-Imperials in that lot had made his skin crawl with their arrogance — who would, out of some pressing need to keep some unknown "big picture" in mind, disapprove of _anything_ that would cut off a vital part of space (in their eyes) from their control and influence.

"Who the hell gave them the right to play God with us?" he muttered.

"Who are you talking about, Ataru-kun?"

He perked on hearing that voice, and then he smiled. "Kasumi-san."

Miyamoto Kasumi smiled as she walked over to sit down beside him, placing her own tray of food on the coffee table before the couch. "I see I'm not the only one who needed a little time away from the crowds to think for herself," she mused.

"How are things with you and Narumi-chan?" he asked.

She smiled. "Well, we squeeze in time with each other whenever duty doesn't separate us," she admitted. "I volunteered to work in Sick Bay to learn how things actually operate in a medical office, so I'm with Narumi as much as possible whenever she's not practicing drill on the flight deck or reading over the various manuals she'll need to learn from if she wants to pass the tests at Saint-Jean and Borden." As he nodded, she sipped her tea. "I know I'm lovers with a Navy woman, which means I'm married to the Navy as well as that woman. It's hard…but a lot better than what I had when I was still living with Otō-san at his house as his unpaid housekeeper."

"Hiromi-chan told me about how dead the place felt when she visited it after Kunō was taken down," he stated. "I'm glad you and your sisters are free of that place." He gave her a playful wink. "Pretty girls like you need to grow and flower, not wilt away in some dead place trying to prop up the hollow dreams of an ungrateful father."

She winked back. "As much as honourable and caring boys need to get away from selfish mothers who spend way too much time lamenting what they lost and not appreciating what they still have…not to mention ignorant fathers who let their stupid wives browbeat them into submission so they could get their way and live in a 'normal' world." A giggle then escaped her. "I think that whole idea of blocking off the majority of the house from your parents is genius, Ataru-kun! Especially since you're using blood ki wards to keep it safe."

"Well, now that we have three little ones to worry about, we've got no choice," he stated before sipping his tea. "How soon will you do your English test?"

"Friday; it'll be at Niagara College in Welland," she answered. "Then I'll have to wait for the admissions department at McMaster to approve my starting classes in September and get my student visa from the government. It's being fast-tracked…but even if I feel I'm not special, I am grateful for the chance to get in now."

"You want to finally get on with your life."

She nodded. "Hai. I often dreamt of the chance of someone taking me away from that awful place and allowing me to live my life at last." She then giggled. "To believe I had to become a bioroid that's bisexual to boot and become lovers with a woman to get it! Oh, my! It's so strange how Fate works at times, isn't it?"

"I just let it come a day at a time, Kasumi-san," he admitted. "I leave the deep philosophy about Fate and all that to Hiromi-chan and Miyako-chan; they have the temperament for it." As both of them laughed, he then sighed. "And now…"

"Two hundred and forty-two mistresses," she stated with a twinkle in her eyes. "If Ranma-kun's mother was still in that mode of thinking, she'd judge you quite 'manly' and not bother you again, I'd think." She then sobered. "Oh, dear…"

"We have to remember they're still human — or however they call it on Uru — deep in their hearts," he advised before sipping his tea. "So's Hensō."

Kasumi gazed at him. "Amazing that you two love each other still."

"Well, now that we understand each other a lot more, it's easy to fall back in love," Ataru noted. "And part of me wishes that I had been a little more clear-headed back in Onishuto after I had finally woken up to what was going on inside my head all these years." A wry smirk crossed his face. "Take Hensō and her friends to Ganzo-ojiisan to have them reborn as Avalonians right then and there to get rid of Obā-san's curse." He sighed. "But knowing Fat Boy Invader, he would have started a war to save his 'precious baby' right then and there. Against the Noukiites, that would have been virtual suicide."

"Especially after you had to deal with that awful Elle woman."

He nodded. "Yeah. Amazing that people just focus on one thing over everything else." He then chuckled. "Then again, I wasn't really so different."

"People do that all the time, Ataru-kun. It makes life simple for them. Which is understandable given how complex the Universe really is in the end." Kasumi then sighed. "What do you want to do with Hensō-chan, Ataru-kun?"

"Well, I can't bring her back to Japan," he admitted. "She's got a relationship with Naoko-chan she needs to lean on more after finally being forced to accept the full truth about herself. Besides, if I did that, Baka Kā-san would just become an ogre about forcing me back into a relationship with her. I can't do that with Shikuko and Miyako needing me right now…not to mention almost all the girls in my class mentally undressing me in their minds every chance they get." As she laughed, he sighed. "Hey, did you ever watch _Band of Brothers_ when it came out on TV?!"

She nodded. "Yes, I did. I liked that series…even if they got things wrong about some people like Sobel-shōsa." She then blinked as her mind locked in on one particular detail about that ten-part series produced by the incredible team of Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg based on the bestselling novel by the late Stephen Ambrose. "You mean do for Hensō what Winters-shōsa vowed he'd do if he survived the war?"

"Why not? It would be a good thing for you and Narumi as well. Not to mention Nabiki-san and Kyōko, plus whatever other couple might need that sort of thing."

She hummed. "But where would it be, Ataru-kun? They haven't announced where _Haida_'s ground base will be. It could be anywhere inside Ontario or even Manitoba for all we know."

He winked at her. "There is one person I can ask."

Her eyes went wide. "Negako-san?"

"Practically next to no secret on the planet is safe from her."

Kasumi then giggled. "True…"

* * *

The ship's gymnasium, an hour later…

"Yes, I am aware of where _Haida_ will be based," Negako stated. She had come into this space to spend some time meditating before the Canadian starship would resume standard orbit over southern Ontario and she could beam back to Japan and be on solid ground once more. "You wish to build a private home for Naoko and Hensō, correct?"

"Hai, Onē-san," Ataru said as he and Kasumi knelt before the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū. "It's the best thing I can do for Hensō after just leaving her in the lurch like I did back in Onishuto." He smirked. "Other than plucking her cherry."

Negako shook her head as Kasumi giggled. "The foolish beliefs surrounding sexual intercourse," the former muttered under her breath. "And people wonder why there are so many incidents of teenage pregnancies and sexually-transmitted diseases. A simple and frank explanation of the human reproductive drive would do so much for so many."

"Onē-san, I don't think people are ready for _**your**_ version of the Talk," Ataru warned her. "Remember how traumatized everyone in class was after you did that in gym?"

"My point exactly, Ataru. This mixed standard when it comes to understanding the nature of human sexuality made most of them react in that manner."

"You have a point, Negako-san," Kasumi said before shrugging. "Well, it doesn't matter. Even if you shouted it out to the world, people will still make mistakes."

"Do you believe you made a mistake when you became lovers with Narumi, Kasumi?"

"Of course not!"

"Would you seek out Ataru as the potential father of your future children?"

Ataru awked. "_**ONĒ-SAN!**_"

Kasumi blinked, and then she gazed on him for a moment before she nodded. "Actually, I would," she admitted. "I felt what Ataru-kun did to Kazu-san and her sisters when I helped them get into their new bodies. He was a proper gentleman and a caring lover to each of them. I would certainly like that for my first male lover." As she noted his cheeks reddening at that complement, she added, "But like Hensō, I have a lover who views your brother as her spiritual big brother. I'll need to wean Narumi from that first."

"Not to mention progress your medical career once you are declared a doctor and begin your residency phase of training," Negako stated.

The younger woman nodded. "True. That's at least eight years away. By that time, Narumi would be on her way to becoming a master seaman and preparing to move towards remustering as a physician's assistant…if she doesn't decide to become a doctor herself." Kasumi then sighed. "But that's in the future. This is now. And yes, Negako-san, I would gladly share a house with Hensō and Naoko. I'm sure Nabiki and Kyōko would like that chance, too."

"Then it shall be done," Negako stated before she looked up. "Computer: Full security screen on all internal monitoring systems in the ship's gymnasium. Seal all entrances into the gymnasium. Special authorization code: Moroboshi-November-Six-One-Alpha."

"_Full security screen on internal monitoring systems in the ship's gymnasium engaged. Sealing of physical entrances into ship's gymnasium done_," the ship's computer replied.

"Oh, my! Why so secret?!" Kasumi gasped.

Negako smiled. "Stephen Harper and Peter MacKay asked me to maintain secrecy concerning the location of the new base they will have constructed for _Haida_ and her support units." She then pulled out her dataPADD from her personal stuff-space pocket and placed it on the mat before her. Tapping controls, she allowed a holographic map of the south-central part of the province of Ontario to appear in a 3D image over the touch-screen device. "This will be Canadian Forces Base Niagara."

Ataru and Kasumi leaned closer to examine the details…

* * *

Port Robinson (ten kilometres west-southwest of Niagara Falls), on the east bank of the Welland Ship Canal, Wednesday 14 July, after dawn…

For Mizuno Tomomi, it still felt like a weird dream.

Created ten years before at the behest of a wonderful man from Phentax Twenty who worked as a forester, the bespectacled brown-eyed woman with the long, straight brown hair had lived a wonderful life in comparison to many of her sisters. While she had to perform the rituals whenever government inspectors came by to ensure she hadn't become an "uppity robot" being so far from the reach of proper authorities, she lived very much as the live-in girlfriend of Suryan dai-Yuos. They hadn't had children; both knew quite well what might have happened if Tomomi had mothered a hybrid baby given the mad determination of the authorities to prevent such births…which flew right in the face of the standard legal doctrine which stated that any child born with Niphentaxian blood was seen as a Niphentaxian legally. It wasn't a bad life at all…

…until the Liberation almost shattered everything for her.

The actual breaking of the genetic locks on her DNA which forced her to be subservient to her master thanks to Moroboshi Negako hadn't hurt Tomomi at all; by that point in their relationship, she and Suryan saw each other as equals and lived pretty much as husband and wife. But the authorities, augmented by Church of Lum strongmen who were totally panicking at the idea of such an all-out attack on their "invulnerable" star system as launched by the Noukiites and Yehisrites with assistance from celestial dragons from both worlds, went out like mad dogs to try to corral the Avalonians to ensure that a century-old dirty little secret never escaped the Phentax system. Just seconds before the mass recall began, a group of five such people burst into their cabin and brutally shot Suryan down right in front of Tomomi's eyes when he moved to protect her from them. She didn't get the chance to try to avenge her beloved's death; the materialiser beam whisked her away before any of the attackers could try to strike her down, bringing her back aboard the great factory where she had been born a decade before with a shattered heart.

The month or so she remained on the bioroid factory did much to heal Tomomi's wounded soul. That had been mostly thanks to Moroboshi Ataru, who had worked tirelessly from the point the factory had blasted away from Phentax Twelve for the Sol system to help thousands, MILLIONS of badly hurt women overcome years and decades of being slaves. Tomomi had eventually recovered enough to accept an invitation to move into the Niagara peninsula of the Canadian province of Ontario, settling down in the former inland port where the original Welland Canal had connected with the Welland River from 1829-32 to allow ships travelling from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario to make their way to and from the Niagara River for the southern part of the journey. Eventually becoming a professional model who gladly posed for both paintings and photographs — though, unlike what her namesake from _Dōkyūsei 2_ was forced to do, Tomomi didn't do any erotic photography — she would also be one of the people who instigated the reformation of the Niagara Region's local cavalry regiment. By the time said regiment had been officially restored to duty and deployed to Yaminokuni with the Task Force, brevet Major Mizuno Tomomi of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps had risen to the position of Officer Commanding "C" Squadron of the 2nd/10th Dragoons, based in a brand-new armoury building in nearby Welland.

Sipping her coffee, the professional model/reserve armour officer watched as the new vertical lift span connecting the two sides of Port Robinson slowly ascended to the "up" position to allow an awaiting salt-water freighter the chance to proceed upstream towards Port Colborne and Lake Erie. Among many of the transportation improvements that Avalonians unleashed in the Niagara Region was to build a whole new bridge at Port Robinson — officially designated Bridge 12A by the Saint Lawrence Seaway Authority — to replace the span destroyed the night of 25 August 1974 thanks to the failure of the captain of the S.S. _Steelton_ to blow his whistle to announce his approach to the structure. Fortunately, the new bridge — while looking physically like its predecessor — had been constructed with all sorts of modern safety features that would hopefully prevent such an accident from happening again. Even more so, there were always two people — both Avalonian-Canadian volunteers — who stood watch in the bridge house at the centre of the span above the road deck, part of a total crew of eight who were split into four pairs that stood six-hour watches each.

"Quiet morning," a voice mused from below.

Tomomi looked down before she smiled. "It is that, Mother."

Narusawa Misako grinned at her daughter-in-law's calling her by that title. Tomomi had made the acquaintance of Narusawa Yui and her "mother" Misako about three months ago, after all three had come down from the bioroid factory. Like Tomomi, the Narusawas — who had been constructed at the same time; Yui wasn't Misako's natural daughter — had been modelled after characters from _Dōkyūsei 2_; Yui's namesake was the game's main character and Misako's namesake was the former love interest of the player character's long-missing father. The Avalonian version of the Narusawas had a master who had lived on Phentax Fourteen and worked in a village administration centre as a records clerk. Like Tomomi, Yui and Misako hadn't been mistreated at all by Korthas dai-Jenyah; he had wanted both a mother figure and a sister figure since he had been orphaned at a young age. Unlike Tomomi's master, Korthas had — up to the very moment the recall mechanisms on the bioroid factory whisked Yui and her mother away — survived the attempted dragnet the Church of Lum unleashed on the colonies to keep their escaping slaves chained down.

Also relocating to Canada, Narusawa Misako set up a coffee shop and family-owned diner in Port Robinson in an old office block at the northeast corner of River Street and Bridge Street, the latter leading onto Bridge 12A and the west side of the small village. To the surprise of locals, the hamlet at the south end of the municipal territory of the City of Thorold seemed a very attractive place for Avalonian-Canadians to settle down once they got their citizenship papers. Given the increased population and the reconnection between both sides of Port Robinson, Misako's Country Café had become a popular gathering place for Terran-born and Avalonian-born residents of the village.

Yui and Tomomi had become bond-mates a week after they began living on Earth full-time.

Walking off the second-floor veranda into her bedroom, Tomomi smiled on seeing her sleeping lover curled up cutely on their bed, her raven hair cascading in waves to the level of her breasts. In a nod to the rules of her video game namesake, Yui had insisted on wearing plaid bow ties in her hair full-time even back on Phentax Fourteen…and had given Tomomi the right to remove those ties when they had bonded and become a couple. Setting aside her coffee cup, Tomomi sat on the bed and gently leaned over to blow into Yui's ear, which made the other girl yelp in surprise as her chestnut eyes snapped open. "Wake up, Yui-vayae," Tomomi gently teased. "It's morning."

Yui blinked, and then she moaned on seeing the time displayed on the alarm clock on the nightstand. "Tomomi!" she groaned as she tried to pull the covers and pillows over herself. "It's too early to get up! Let me sleep in, for Lyna's sake!"

"You promised Mother you'd help in the café," Tomomi warned.

A tired sigh answered her. "Right…"

With that, Yui got out of bed and plodded into the bathroom to wash up. Tomomi smirked as she returned to sipping her coffee, gazing once more at the beautiful early summer day now unfolding over the Niagara peninsula through the east-side windows of their small second-floor apartment. Yui worked part-time at her mother's café; during times when she wasn't needed downstairs, she volunteered at a brand-new daycare centre run by another woman modelled after a _Dōkyūsei 2_ character, Sugimoto Sakurako, in a new facility overlooking the Welland River at the east end of Bridge Street past the railroad tracks that now carried the East Canal Line of the Niagara Light Rapid Transit system between Port Colborne and Saint Catharines. As this was summer vacation, the daycare centre was closed for the season, thus allowing Sakurako the chance to work full time at Misako's Country Café alongside her friend. And while Sakurako had been a frequent guest in Tomomi's and Yui's bed after the latter couple bonded, the former — who had developed considerable precognitive powers atop the normal psionic abilities; this had been prized by her mistress Eyasha dai-Varish, who served as a local asteroid geology surveyor — stated that her time to acquire her own heart-mate had not yet come.

Soon enough, Yui was dressed and heading downstairs into the café. The OPEN sign was up and three regulars were already there relaxing themselves as they enjoyed their morning coffee and some home-cooked foods; Sakurako was already in the kitchen helping out with preparing meals. "Sorry I'm late, Mom!" she called out.

"It's alright, Yui," Misako stated as she finished sweeping the front deck, and then she stepped inside just as a pair of weary-looking fire fighters from Station #3 across the corner from the café walked inside. "Good morning, gentlemen."

"'Morning, Ms. Narusawa," one of them said as they sat down at the bar.

"Usual?!" Sakurako called out through the window from the kitchen.

"Please!" the other fire fighter called out as Yui moved to make coffee.

"Well, another night passed without a fire in the neighbourhood," Misako stated as she moved to watch over things…and then she tensed on hearing a ringing noise through the open door into her café.

A ringing noise that could only be a materialiser.

Others looked out towards Port Robinson Park across River Street from the café north of Bridge Street. "Who on Earth's that?" an elderly man asked.

"Three people," another man said as he gazed out the window. "Two women and a…"

Loud, running footsteps echoed from upstairs as a wide-eyed Tomomi — still in her housecoat — charged down from her apartment to race to the doorway. "Tomomi!" Misako called out. "What in Lyna's name is wrong with…?!" Her voice then caught in her throat as footfalls from outside heralded the arrival of three people.

"Greetings, Misako. Tomomi," a toneless voice greeted in sound-perfect English.

Jaws dropped in shock. "Ataru…Miss Negako…what are you two doing here?" Tomomi hissed out as she tried not to lose control of herself and revert to Japanese.

All the locals gaped on hearing those two names; who on Earth DIDN'T know of these two people — both now in matching black martial artist uniforms — that had just come to visit their little village? And while the third person — a woman in Canadian Forces naval combat dress, though she didn't have epaulette slip-ons indicative of her being in the Navy; she wore an H.M.C.S. _Haida_ ship's baseball cap over her long brown hair — also seemed to be Japanese, she was a total unknown to the people inside the café.

Sakurako then walked out of the kitchen to gaze on Moroboshi Ataru and his sister Negako. "Oh, my! I just _**knew**_ there was going to be something interesting today!" the soft-spoken precognitive with the pale green eyes and the wavy hair the shade of maple fudge tied in a thick French braid over one shoulder mused with a smile.

Negako's eyebrow arched in hidden amusement…

* * *

_Haida_, in orbit over Toronto, the main observation lounge, a half-hour before the start of the forenoon watch…

"**_FIVE ORGASMS?!_**"

It was a VERY stunned group of female officers who screamed that out.

"Yes," Azu Toge calmly said before sipping her spiced tea, allowing Aruka Riyu to kiss her cheek. "All in twenty minutes. And Darling only penetrated me just _once_!"

Jaws were now on the deck as the Terran-born junior officers who had elected to join their new shipmates in the observation lounge as a way of getting to know them in the normal female-bonding process in what — even now — was seen as something of a male world just _stared_ at them. Naturally, talk had drifted to what had happened with the former gynoids who had been the Renning sisters' caregivers for the last three years…and how they had been "persuaded" to allow themselves to become bioroids in the wake of their meeting Moroboshi Ataru. Of course, the Terran-born officers — who were all single, though several had boyfriends — found it hard to believe that a young man had the stamina to secure the loyalty locks of _twenty-two_ gynoids in a space of _**four hours**_. So — given they still were young even if they had endured the crucible of the Royal Military College (for most of them), plus environmental and trades training and postings at other units — they had jokingly tried to pry the story out of their new friends.

None of them had expected something like _**this**_, though.

"You're not pulling our legs here, are you, Toge?" Michelle Anderson then asked as she gave Toge a disbelieving look.

"Michelle, I'm not programmed to lie unless it's in the defence of people I care for," Toge gently chided. "If you want…" She held out her hand, fingers splayed.

The navigation officer jerked; while she was actually quite comfortable serving with Avalonians, the nature of their psionic powers still freaked her out on occasion. "Trust me on this, Michelle; she's not lying," Maria Kennison — who was the senior officer present — stated before sipping her own coffee. "He was even able to do that to all of Toge's sisters. Even taking Numon, Meiya and Tori all in one session."

Jaws dropped in disbelief. "Five orgasms in twenty minutes?!" Carol Moore breathed out in awe. "Damn! I got to get me some of that!"

"Wow!" Jessica Miller noisily exhaled. "I heard all the damned rumours about the guy when he was married to Hensō, but _jeez_…!"

"Goes to show you can't really believe rumours, Jessica," Redet Dara stated. "Besides, even if Darling didn't like the idea of having sex with us to secure our loyalty locks because we were programmed with them, he did try to make it enjoyable for us."

"Only just wish he wasn't so shy about doing us now," Horan Vanna muttered.

"Be careful about that, Van," Lynn Kennison stated. "He may be a wonderful lover, but he's also seventeen years old. He's technically underage by Canadian law."

"Not for too long," Tenwan Caril coyly stated.

"What about Japanese law?" Aruka Fuan asked. A bespectacled Oni with blue eyes and shaggy blue hair cut at mid-neck, she had been the junior engineer officer on the corvette under Bren Luan. When she had undergone her body-swap, she elected to become an aerospace engineering officer, which saw her become a captain in the Air Force. When it was officially formed, she would become a part of 21 Air Reserve Flight, though she would be seconded to 21 Air Maintenance Squadron aboard _Haida_.

Eyes locked on the beautiful African-Canadian woman seated nearby. Crystal Jansen was _Haida_'s on-board legal officer, the person who served as the adviser on all matters pertaining to national and international — and now intergalactic — law to the ship's commanding officer. The Army captain's other main role was to serve as general legal counsel for the ship's company and attached Air Force and Army personnel assigned to _Haida_'s operational group. While granted the right to serve on ship — which she wanted to do, even going so far as to volunteer for the chance to go to H.M.C.S. _Venture_ in Esquimalt and undergo the nine-week Naval Environmental Training Program course that introduced all non-MARS officers to life at sea — Crystal was administratively part of the staff of the Assistant Judge Advocate General for Central Region headquartered in Toronto; this was the reason she had the gold threat-on-dark green background **JUSTITIA** shoulder flash of her home branch in lieu of _Haida_'s new shoulder flash.

Moaning, the brown-eyed native of Halifax with the curly raven hair pinched the bridge of her nose. "I had never thought that after I was assigned as legal counsel for this ship, I'd be asked questions like _that_!" she muttered, which made the others in the room laugh. "My basic advice is to wait until at least he's twenty before you take him to bed; that is the legal age of majority in Japan," she then stated, which made the former gynoids all frown at the idea of waiting THREE YEARS to be intimate with their Darling again. "But like in Canada, Japanese law is a little screwy on some things. The base age of consent in Japan is actually _**thirteen**_!" That made people's jaws drop. "Though individual prefectures sometimes issue ordinances that actually prohibit that sort of thing with people under the age of eighteen; this is the reason we see so much child porn manga and anime come out of that country. Age of marriage is twenty without parental consent; eighteen for boys with parental consent and sixteen for girls."

"Why's that?!" Jessica asked before she sighed. "Right…forgot."

Laughter filled the room. "Legal drinking age is twenty, driving age is eighteen and voting age is twenty," Crystal finished. "I'd wait, girls."

"Three years…?" Caril whined.

"Hey, it's not that bad!"

Eyes locked on Vanna. "What do you mean?" Azu Kakazu wondered.

"Imagine the orgy we'll have with Darling when he _**does**_ come of age and we go visit him to celebrate his birthday?" the blonde Seishin-form Avalonian infantry officer asked with a smirk and wink. "How many times will he make our orgasm routines trip THEN?!"

People gaped at her, and then they laughed…

* * *

Port Robinson, on the banks of the Welland River…

"**_AH-CHOO!_**"

"Bless you, Ataru! Are you alright?!" Mizuno Tomomi asked.

A moan escaped Ataru as he rubbed his nose. "Someone's talking about me."

"You made a very good impression on many people in the last day or so, Ataru," Negako then commented. "Why are you surprised by that fact?"

He jerked before a moan escaped him. "Yeah…!"

A comforting hand fell on his shoulder. "Don't be sad, Ataru," Sugimoto Sakurako stated as she gave him a friendly smile. "You made them very happy and saved them from falling into permanent comas because their loyalty locks hadn't been engaged…which would have left poor Shunran and Mayhan totally helpless in the face of what their father wanted to do to them, much less Lara's other-self. Doesn't that matter?"

He sighed. "Of course it does…but I'd seriously wish that there had been another way to give those girls — all of them — their humanity back, Sakurako."

The others grinned on hearing that. After meeting up with Tomomi and the Narusawas at Misako's Country Café, Negako persuaded Sakurako to open up her daycare centre so that a private meeting could be held concerning what Ataru wanted to do for Hensō. Joining them for that meeting was Maijima Karen. Another "_Dōkyūsei 2_ Alumnus," she had been created as a high-class prostitute, working in a brothel in Lumukyō before the Liberation. And while she had a master who had made damn sure she and her many sisters in the brothel had been cared for to ensure she could serve as best as she could — after all, if Karen was hurt or sick, she couldn't earn money for her pimp — she understandably didn't care to engage in such activities anymore now that she was a free person. On coming to Earth, she had settled down in Welland and became part of the staff of the local Resettlement Committee for new Avalonian-Canadians moving to make new lives for themselves in the Rose City and its surrounding municipalities.

Also like many of her sisters, Karen joined the Militia. Deciding she wanted to help build things, she chose to become an engineer officer. There was a problem, though: The nearest combat engineer unit was in _**Waterloo**_, which was over two hours away by car from Welland! After a little research was done, it was discovered that there had been two engineer units based in Windsor until the big unit reductions hit the Canadian Army in the 1960s. To that end, the old 34 Bridge Troop was reborn as 34 Field Engineer Squadron, a new element of 31 Combat Engineer Regiment, being stood up unofficially at the start of April in Welland and being given official authorization at the end of last week in the wake of the restoration of the 2nd/10th Dragoons. Karen became an acting troop commander in 34 FES, leading projects such as the construction of Bridge 12A to reconnect both sides of Port Robinson. Another of her works was the total rehabilitation of the old section of the Welland Ship Canal — known these days as the Welland Recreational Waterway — that wound its way through the downtown part of its namesake city, making it a navigable waterway once more even if it would be restricted to pleasure craft and the odd warship coming through on Great Lakes tours. Doing that changed the Welland city skyline by seeing a small grove of vertical lift bridges erected at all the major road crossings. Because of her willingness to do everything to help make her new home city a better place, Karen was brevetted a major and made the first officer commanding of 34 FES when the squadron was officially taken on-strength with its parent regiment.

Karen was now working on her dataPADD, allowing holographic images of house designs to flash before her. "So how many people are we ultimately talking about?" the pretty blonde with the chestnut eyes then asked as she gazed on Negako.

"There is the ultimate potential of over two hundred people now requiring private residences close to each other," the ninjutsu grandmaster stated. "As you have just been told, Ataru was forced to secure the loyalty locks of twenty-three intimate companion gynoids who were later converted into Avalonians. An additional 219 gynoids were converted into Avalonians without the loyalty locks being secured, but one of the people Ataru personally dealt with mentally programmed these other girls to accept him as their spiritual owner and master." As Ataru tried not to groan on being reminded of _**that**_, Negako then indicated Kasumi. "Kasumi and her sister Nabiki — who will form bond-matings with two of the crew of _Haida_ — will also require residences in this area. Kasumi plans to attend McMaster University to pursue a medical career and Nabiki is strongly considering attending Queen's University in Kingston after high school."

"Their future bond-mates being on _Haida_, right?" Karen moved to confirm.

"Correct."

"We'd need an apartment block for that number of people," Tomomi warned.

"Not really," Karen stated. "The Welland Area Resettlement Committee arranged for the purchase of some old farmland on both sides of Chippawa Creek Road between Allanport Road and Thorold Townline Road for new housing developments." She then sighed. "My squadron got warning orders concerning assisting in the initial field construction of the east side of CFB Niagara on Monday, so I have an idea what the general layout of the base is going to be." She pulled up a map from the dataPADD, and then indicated certain locations. "The bridge taking Moyer Road across the Welland River will serve as the north gate into the Navy side of the base; the part of River Street that crosses the Welland River at the syphon culvert that takes it under the By-Pass Channel will be the northwest gate to the base grounds. Naturally, there's going to be a large expansion of urban development in and around Port Robinson to provide a convenient civilian zone for personnel from the base to travel to."

"So what sort of house could we get?" Kasumi asked.

"Well, would you and your bond-mate want to live alone?"

The elder Miyamoto daughter hummed. "Well, I'm willing to share with Nabiki and Kyōko; Narumi would accept that, I believe. Maybe Hensō and Naoko as well. Even if Hensō has very much reconciled with Ataru here, she still feels a little out of sorts…and she'll be lonely here or aboard _Haida_ when Naoko goes off to do her basic officer's course in Saint-Jean."

Karen nodded. "So we're looking at a three-bedroom house for three couples. Guest room?"

"Certainly," Kasumi said with her own nod. "Actually, if you can do two guest rooms, it would be a lot better. One for Akane and Kyoko when they visit, one for Karin and whoever becomes her bond-mate in the future. Or for Ataru and his lovers if they come by to visit." She then hummed. "That would be a large house…"

"Unless you do a barndominium."

"What's that?" Ataru asked.

The engineer officer smirked. "Let me show you…"

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Translations: **Casus Belli** — Literally "case of war," this is the phrase used to describe a situation which would justify the launching of a state of war between two powers; **Shōsa** — Navy lieutenant commander/Army major/Air Force squadron commander (NATO rank code OF-3); **Vayae** — Literally "my darling" or "my dearest," this is the standard Sagussan term of endearment.

2) The **Central Cabinet Command** is the official designation for the officers who help form the executive branch of the government of Uru; they serve as the senior advisers on specific matters to the head of state of the Union of Uru, Grand General **Hozan Lana** (who first appeared in _The Senior Year_ story "Great Father Ataru Final: The Last Farewell"). To become part of the Central Cabinet Command, one must at least be a rear admiral (upper half) in the Urusian Defence Force or a major general in the Urusian Marine Corps.

As an aside, there is a nominal legislative branch of the Urusian government as well, the unicameral **Union Council**, which is headquartered in the capital city of Uru, **Onishuto**. All officers in the Defence Force and Marine Corps at the rank of warlord captain (the same rank **Redet Invader** holds as commanding officer of the battlewagon _Kashin_) or Marine colonel can sit in the Council, but have to be appointed by a member of the Cabinet to fill a seat.

3) The incident Heather refers to concerning Hensō using a time-travel device — in _The Senior Year_, Mike Smith called such a device a **spacializer** — to alter Ataru's behaviour was depicted in the _Yatsura_ manga story "Down The Right Path" (manga episode #83).

4) The two dictators referred to by Jim Woodson in the cafeteria when the crew of _Haida_ meet their new guests are **Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.** (1917-89) of the Philippines (President 1965-86) and **Pak Chŏnghŭi** (1917-79) of South Korea (President 1961-79). Both men — while allowing gross political repression and massive human rights abuses to occur under their watch while they were in power — did much to implement industrial and infrastructure improvements that boosted the quality of life of many of the people of both the Philippines and South Korea. Marcos was driven from power in the so-called **People Power Revolution** after his agents killed his primary opponent, **Benigno Aquino, Jr.** (1932-83); Marcos would be succeeded by Aquino's widow **Corazon Aquino** (1933-2009) and would die in exile in Hawai'i. Pak was assassinated by his own security service chief. Ironically, Pak's daughter **Pak Kŭnhye** (born 1952) — who effectively served as First Lady of South Korea after the murder of her mother in 1974 by North Korean agents left her father a widower — would become the President of the Republic of Korea on 25 February 2013.

5) Character notes:

**Matsu'ura Ai** is, as noted above, one of the primary characters of _Ojō-sama Express_. She is a very clumsy girl who suffers from a lot of bad luck. While she is travelling on the train, Ai wears her school uniform. At the end of her storyline, she's depicted as having become a school teacher.

**Mizuno Tomomi** is, as noted above, one of the characters in the second _Dōkyūsei_ dating simulation game released by ELF in the mid-1990s, along with primary character **Narusawa Yui**, her mother **Narusawa Misako**, **Sugimoto Sakurako** and **Maijima Karen**. Tomomi is a childhood friend of the player character who was trapped by the game's token pervert character into posing nude for him for pictures; in the game — whose storyline was faithfully translated over to the second episode of the OVA series produced from the game by Pink Pineapple — the player character would rescue Tomomi from this and she would reward him for it. Yui, of course, is the primary character of the game and the player's adopted sister figure until he finds a way to win her love and wins the right to remove her plaid ribbons from her hair. Misako is Yui's mother and the lover of the player's missing father; she would allow the player to stay with her and Yui. In the game, Misako is also a potential target for a date; the OVAs play this down to just her flirting with the player character due to her missing his father. Sakurako is depicted as a girl who is forced to stay in the hospital and has become lonely because of it; a paper airplane tossed out the window of her room is retrieved by the player, which brings her to his attention. And Karen is the game's token idol singer character; she would be attracted to the player since he — while, of course, being attracted to her — treated her more like a person than some pop icon.

6) As noted above, _Band of Brothers_ is a ten-part television miniseries that was broadcast on HBO in 2001 and has been re-broadcast again and again since that time worldwide. Based on the original 1992 novel (ISBN 0-671-76922-7) by **Stephen E. Ambrose** (1936-2002), the series concentrated on the adventures of "Easy" Company of the **2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment** (**2/506 PIR**) when it was a part of the 101st Airborne Division operating in the European Theatre of Operations from the invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944 to the end of the war. First formed at **Camp Toccoa**, near the Georgia town of the same name 140 kilometres northeast of Atlanta, the 509th would eventually adopt the motto _Currahee_, based on a Cherokee word meaning "Stands Alone."

Easy Company's first commander was **Herbert Sobel** (1912-87), a Chicago native of Jewish descent who was — as depicted in the first episode of the series — a very strict disciplinarian who ultimately demonstrated his inability to command troops in the field. This nearly prompted an act of mutiny by his company sergeants, forcing his regimental commander to have him reassigned to a staff position. Ironically, Sobel's strict training while the company was in Georgia effectively made it the best line company of the 506th, ensuring that many of the original "Toccoa men" in the company would survive to see the end of the war; many people who hated Sobel personally gladly gave him credit for Easy Company's success in the war. The original book got the man's fate wrong; while Sobel did shoot himself in the head in the 1960s, he didn't die from his wounds, though he was rendered blind for life. In the miniseries, Sobel was portrayed by _Friends_ star **David Schwimmer** (born 1966).

Easy Company's most well-known commander was **Richard "Dick" Winters** (1918-2011), who was portrayed by British actor **Damian Lewis** (born 1971) in the miniseries and made the star of the show. A native of Lancaster County in southeast Pennsylvania near Philadelphia, Winters joined the Army in 1941 as a private, went through officer training the next year and was assigned to the 506th right after gaining his commission. He would be forced to take command of Easy Company on D-Day due to the death of Sobel's successor as company commander, leading a short platoon of thirteen men in destroying a battery of German guns firing on the causeways leading off Utah Beach. His heroism saw him awarded the Army's second-highest award for bravery, the **Distinguished Service Cross**; to his death, people campaigned to have Winters' DSC upgraded to the Medal of Honour. Promoted to captain and made Easy Company's commander when the Normandy campaign was finished, Winters would remain at his post until appointed battalion executive officer three months later, which is where he served until the end of the war. He would later be recalled to service in Korea, but would later resign due to his desire not to get into combat again and his disgust at the lack of enthusiasm and discipline his subordinates showed when he was made a training officer.

Winters would remain quite humble about his service in World War Two right to his death despite the accolades he received in the wake the publishing of Ambrose's book. His attitude was best described in a letter he received from a former subordinate that he read in an interview segment in the miniseries: "_I cherish the memories of a question my grandson asked me the other day when he said, 'Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?' Grandpa said, 'No…but I served in a company of heroes.'_"

7) All bridges on the **Welland Ship Canal** were numbered consecutively from north to south when the canal was formally opened in 1932 for administrative purposes; Bridge 1 is on Lakeshore Road in Saint Catharines while Bridge 21 is on Clarence Street in Port Colborne. Whenever a bridge has to be replaced — as depicted here concerning the **Port Robinson Bridge** — a suffix letter "A" is added to the bridge number to indicate this is not one of the original bridges dating from the 1930s. The suffix letter "A" is also used when a new span is placed over the canal close to one of the original spans, as witness the **Garden City Skyway** (Bridge 4A), which carries the **Queen Elizabeth Way** (**QEW**) over the canal just north of the **Homer Bridge** (Bridge 4), which carries Niagara Regional Road 81 (formerly King's Highway 8) over the waterway connecting downtown Saint Catharines with Queenston and Niagara Falls.

The incident concerning Bridge 12 and the _Steelton_ noted here did happen. When the wreckage was cleared, however, it was decided that because of the low vehicle traffic over that particular span, it was seen as just too costly to replace it with another bridge or a tunnel. To keep both sides of Port Robinson somewhat connected, a seasonal ferry service was initiated that carries people on foot and on bicycles across the canal. Vehicle traffic have to take a detour either north to the **Allanburg Bridge** (Bridge 11) carrying King's Highways 58 and 20 across the canal two kilometres away…or go south and use the **Main Street Tunnel** carrying Niagara Regional Road 27 under the Welland By-Pass Channel into downtown Welland and connecting the ends of King's Highways 406 (for Saint Catharines) and 140 (for Port Colborne).

In real life, **Port Robinson** is now a small hamlet on both sides of the canal, tucked away from most major road traffic.

8) Canadian Forces trade notes:

An **Aerospace Engineering Officer** (**AERE**) is responsible for all aspects of the engineering, maintenance and management of military aircraft. They also are in charge of all support equipment and facilities used by Air Force squadrons during military operations. Specific responsibilities include managing and supervising personnel and resources required for the servicing, inspection and repair of aircraft; overseeing the designing, developing and testing new systems and modifying existing ones or for conducting the life cycle management of aircraft and air weapon systems; participating in the formulation of plans, policies, standards and specifications for present and future military aircraft and their support equipment and facilities; and providing technical advice on aircraft operation.

A **Legal Officer** (**LEGAL**) delivers legal services in the fields of operational law, international law, training, military personnel law and military justice. Specific responsibilities include providing advice on international and domestic law to the commander of a deployed force; providing general legal advice and services to the commanding officer of a base; providing advice on operational legal issues at NDHQ and higher command headquarters; representing clients at courts martial and appearing before the Court Martial Appeal Court; representing the interests of the Canadian Forces and the Department of National Defence as both a member of a Canadian delegation negotiating international treaties and a member of the military liaison staff at an allied headquarters; and delivering training on military law and military justice.

An **Engineer Officer** (**ENGR**) helps the army live, move and fight. An integral part of the combat arms team, engineer officers are specifically responsible for the combat readiness of the troops under their command. Specific duties of an engineer officer include constructing habitable camps; breaching minefields; using explosives to destroy a road or bridge; constructing a bridge or ferry; building a combat road; disposing of explosives; and constructing obstacles.

9) **31 Combat Engineer Regiment** (**31 CER**) is, in real life, a unit of the Canadian Army; as its regimental number implies, it is the field engineer battalion assigned to **31 Canadian Brigade Group** (**31 CBG**), the Militia formation in charge of all units based in southwest Ontario. In real life, 31 CER was established in 1997 by the conversion of **The Elgin Regiment (RCAC)** (**ELGIN R**), a regiment headquartered in **Saint Thomas** south of London that was formed as a battalion of infantry in 1866 and converted to armour in 1954. The regiment today is composed of two squadrons, 7 Squadron in Saint Thomas and 48 Squadron in Waterloo.

In the universe of this story, when the Avalonians began joining the Militia _en masse_, they proposed to restore the Elgin Regiment back to the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps and allow 31 CER to serve as a separate unit. To that end, provisional squadrons were established across 31 CBG's recruiting area — including the squadron Maijima Karen became a part of in Welland — and the regiment's headquarters was shifted from Saint Thomas to Waterloo officially a week before the start of this story; it was at this same time that the Elgin Regiment was stood back up as a unit of the Armoured Corps. Thus, 31 CER is composed of the following sub-units:

**Regimental Headquarters** (**RHQ 31 CER**) — Waterloo  
**7 Field Engineer Squadron** (**7 FES**) — London  
**11 (Lambton) Armoured Engineer Squadron** (**11 AES**) — Sarnia  
**18 Field Engineer Squadron** (**18 FES**) — Hamilton  
**26 Field Engineer Squadron** (**26 FES**) — Windsor  
**34 Field Engineer Squadron** (**34 FES**) — Welland  
**48 Engineer Field Park Squadron** (**48 EFPS**) — Waterloo  
**231 Administration Squadron** (**231 ADM SQN**) — Waterloo


	8. A Present From the Vinur Drekar

China, the Bāyánkālā Mountains of Qīnghǎi (local time: An hour before sunset)…

"Welcome, honoured visitor, to the springs of Jusenkyō…Aiyah!" the guide who watched over Zhòuquán-xiāng then cried out on recognizing the beautiful Japanese girl who had just appeared in the mists that always seemed to drape over the valley of the Pools of Sorrow. "You are the Lóng de Péng'yǒu!" he then exclaimed.

A polite bow was made in acknowledgement. "Indeed I am, good guide," Inada Mizuho replied, grateful he spoke Japanese as she herself wasn't fluent in any of the common tongues of the Middle Kingdom even if she did recognize the Mandarin term for "Friend of Dragons." She held the Staff of Gihan in hand, its large focusing crystal pulsing as it sensed the power of the springs probe its controller in hopes of claiming yet another victim. "I apologize for intruding upon you this beautiful evening, but I have an odd requirement that I pray you may be able to assist me with."

He blinked, and then sat upon a nearby rock, pulling out a pipe as he moved to light it. "How could a humble guide like me assist someone like you?"

"Up in space as we speak, aboard the great starship _Haida_, an innocent man — an artificial being called an 'android,' not to mince words — lies on the brink of death because of ten years of hideous mental abuse forced upon him by his witless sire and a society that mortally feared the very idea of original thought."

He smirked. "One of those who enslaved the Space Angels, you mean?"

"Exactly. This fellow was, in effect, made an overseer to the beautiful women who now serve aboard _Haida_ and her sistership _Yamato_ as their founding crew. I sensed that he was not truly evil. Nay! In fact, he was as much a victim as those he was meant to help keep in chains. Thus, he deserves a chance to live a real life as an Avalonian." She then gave him a wry smile. "There is, unfortunately, one small problem."

With that, she waved towards the pools of Zhòuquán-xiāng. The guide blinked, and then he nodded. "The great birthing factory of the Space Angels can only create women, not men," he stated. "You desire to use the waters of the Nánnìquán to ensure his new body would be of his proper gender." He hummed. "You'll need the Zhǐshuǐtǒng to lock his body into its cursed form. No matter what, the magic of this place will not release the curse unless he parents children. If he does so in his 'cursed' body…"

"Forever he will be a man," she finished for him.

He nodded, and then the guide pointed to one spring. "There is the Nánnìquán, Lóng de Péng'yǒu," he stated. "But be careful, lest you be cursed yourself."

Mizuho raised the Staff as its focusing crystal glowed…

* * *

The village of the Nǚjiézú, minutes later…

"«Honoured Guide!»"

"«Hello, Zhùpié!»" the guide stated with a polite bow of his head as a young woman who looked like a raven-haired version of Nǚ Shānpú came up to him from her post at the main village gates. "«I apologize for disturbing you this evening, but the Lóng de Péng'yǒu comes seeking the assistance of the Noble Tribe to save an innocent life.»"

Hearing that, Nǚ Zhùpié — "Spray" — blinked before her eyes fell on the young woman standing with the guide. Quick to sense she was one of the barbarians of the Northeast Islands of the Wa, the young warrior was quick to dismiss the guide's unbelievable claim that she could possibly be the _**Friend of Dragons**_, the mysterious woman who — atop seeking to accept the ancient philosophy of the great sage Zaraϑuštra Spitāma as her own faith — always appeared to defend magical beings such as dragons from human poachers; given the Noble Tribe's place on the very divide between the magical and the mundane, the tales of the many deeds of the Friend of Dragons were known to the Nǚjiézú.

She then looked into the other woman's pale blue eyes.

On seeing what lurked in those orbs, Spray felt her knees weaken as she found herself fervently praying she would **_never_** have cause to look into those eyes ever again in her lifetime!

_What in the Names of the Goddesses has this one gone through?!_ she mentally croaked on seeing the horrid, bleeding pain etched in those young yet old orbs.

"«Zhùpié! What is it?!»"

Spray gulped, and then she turned. "«The Lóng de Péng'yǒu comes here, Elder!»"

Surprised gasps echoed from inside the village walls, then the gates were opened to allow a grey-haired woman appearing to be in her early sixties to emerge. Seeing her, Mizuho was quick to note the distant similarity between this one and the stalker that the beautiful warrior-maiden Shampoo — now the wife/bond-mate to the reborn living spirit of the Niángnìquán calling herself "Hayashi Kikuko" these days — had to deal with until very recently. Noting the shame and pain in the elder woman's eyes, Mizuho could only shake her head; no doubt, the actions of this one's mad kinsman hurt her. Like her own fellow elder and Shampoo's great-grandmother Cologne, she was dressed in ornate robes reflecting her station as one of the leaders of this small tribe of warriors.

She then sensed the elder's dark eyes fall on her for a moment before she nodded in grave understanding. "You are the Lóng de Péng'yǒu," she then declared in very good Japanese even if she used the Mandarin nickname for the visiting would-be warrior-priestess, which made the younger warriors in hearing range of this gape in awe on realizing that such a person had come to visit them. "What brings you to our village, young lady?"

"I seek waters touched by this…Zhǐshuǐtǒng device, was it?" Mizuho then stated, stuttering the harsh Mandarin syllables, as she gazed on the guide, who nodded in turn. "It is to give a new and free life to a poor man — one born of 'metal magic' as the mystically inclined here on Earth would call such a process — who was effectively enslaved by the mad ones who also enslaved my adopted kinswomen who fled to this world months ago with the assistance of the Earth Angel and her siblings."

Liào Lǚoé — "Aloe" — blinked as her mind interpreted that, and then she scowled. Spray — who spoke good Japanese herself — then gaped as it hit her. "He's an android?!"

"Indeed he is, Lady Warrior Spray," Mizuho stated. "And I apologize if I mangled your true name, but mastering the sounds spoken in this ancient land has always been quite difficult for me." She inwardly smirked on seeing Spray madly blush on being called "lady warrior"; even if Mizuho couldn't as yet master things like languages beyond what she had learned in the dimension of her birth, she knew through her own beliefs that showing kindness and respect to others went a very long way. "This fellow is an android, built to be the replacement son of a man from Phentax Two who lost his real child many years ago…but because he was built on a world whose artisans could create beings as human as you or I, his ability to think for himself — and even more so, _**create**_ for himself! — so frightened his witless sire that powerful programming caps were slammed onto his soul over a period of ten years to render him nought more than a mere robot. No different than what his father's race saw the Avalonians as."

Gasps escaped both Aloe and Spray on hearing that, and then the elder woman hummed before she blinked. "You went to Jusenkyō before coming here! You gained the waters of the Spring of Drowned Man, didn't you?!" As Mizuho nodded, she then chuckled. "So you need the waters touched by the Locking Ladle to allow this poor young man's new body to remain a man until he fathers a child and can truly live as a man."

"Indeed so, Obā-sama," Mizuho stated with a bow of her head, making Aloe blush on being called that by the visiting would-be warrior-priestess. "And given what the good guide of the Pools of Sorrow here told me of that particular device, I care not to deal with your neighbours nearby who actually possess it. Given their willingness to transform innocent animals into breeding stock for their warriors…" She shook her head.

Aloe laughed. "The Great Dragons have spoken many times of your kindness and willingness to defend their clutches and hatchlings from poachers, young lady!" she stated before she sobered. "They also spoke of the level of giri you feel towards your friends wherever you are staying now. How their fears stemming from whatever horror you all experienced before you came to our reality forces you to remain silent concerning even your own name to others." She then nodded. "You will have the waters of the Zhǐshuǐtǒng, Lóng de Péng'yǒu." Her eyes then sparkled in amusement. "With one small favour in return."

"Whatever within my power…as long as it does not threaten those I protect."

An approving nod from the older woman. "When the day comes that you no longer need to stay silent over who you are and how you came to be with us, come here to tell us your tale. I can see in your eyes that you stared the Goddess of Death right in Her Face before you transitioned to our reality. I know not why that happened…though I suspect that it was done in a way that is quite common in the land and time you hail from." Aloe smiled. "In the end, all I ask is that you appease an old woman's curiosity, young lady. Why would innocent women who have not been prepared for battle be made to die?"

Mizuho nodded. "If the Wise Lord allows it to happen, Obā-sama, it will happen."

Aloe nodded in return. "Let the Fates allow it to come soon."

* * *

Minutes later, Mizuho vanished from the valley of the Nǚjiézú with two sealed bottles of magically-touched waters in hand. As the guide parted from Aloe before returning to his hut in the valley of Zhòuquán-xiāng to resume his own timeless watch over the cursed pools, Mousse's grandmother was quick to see a look of contemplation on Spray's face. "«What is it, Zhùpié?»" the elder asked. "«You sense something about her?»"

She nodded. "«Indeed I do, Elder. Strange as this will sound, she feels familiar.»"

Aloe blinked. "«She's never visited the valley before in her travels.»"

Spray shook her head. "«No! It's not that! It's that…!»" She sighed. "«I saw it in her eyes. You were right, Elder. She's stared the Goddess of Death right in the face…and was yanked away from Her Embrace by something that also brought her friends here. It reminds me of something…but I can't recall what it is.»"

The older woman hummed. "«Perhaps it's one of those translated manga you have imported from the Land of the Wa that you like so much,»" Aloe then gently scolded; Spray's mad passion concerning Japanese manga was a running joke to all of her kinsmen within the village.

Spray blinked — while she didn't care for the barbarians of the Northeast Islands of the Wa as a people, she did like a lot of their popular literature — and then she hummed. "«Maybe it could be that…»"

"«What do you mean?»" the older woman asked, surprised by the serious tone in the young warrior-maiden's words when she said that.

"«It's been proven by our magical friends that what is real in one reality is fiction in another reality; the actual news of events between the realities being imperfectly transmitted between the veils that separate the different dimensions and timelines,»" Spray stated; like all in the village, she was fully aware of magic and had friends who now served in the Chinese Ministry of Magical Affairs. "«Perhaps it's possible that the Lóng de Péng'yǒu hails from a reality that is — in our eyes — a work of fiction." She then scowled. "But which one? The potential choices are so many…!»"

Aloe chuckled. "«Think of that when you're _**not**_ watching over the gates, Zhùpié,»" she then instructed. "«But if you do draw a potential theory as to the true name of the Lóng de Péng'yǒu, stay silent over it. Remember, she protects her friends who cannot protect themselves. Always respect that one fact about her, young lady.»"

The younger warrior bowed. "«I will, Elder!»"

* * *

H.M.C.S. _Haida_, in orbit over Toronto, the wardroom, two hours later (local time: An hour before lunch)…

"Commander Kakazu, it's an honour and a pleasure to welcome you aboard _Radisson_."

Hearing that, Azu Kakazu smiled as she shook the hand of the lieutenant commander who had taken her formal citizenship oath to the Crown, then taken her Oath of Allegiance to formally welcome her into the Canadian Armed Forces. As the others in the room applauded, two of the younger officers currently serving as part of the ship's company in the naval reserve division based in the city of Trois-Rivières on the Saint Lawrence River halfway between Montréal and Québec City moved to replace her basic epaulette slip-ons with the new ones bearing the gold-on-medium blue shoulder flash of Navire Canadien de Sa Majesté _Radisson_. "It's an honour to be aboard, Commander Beaulieu," she said before she gazed at her new administrative commanding officer's rank insignia. "I hope you don't think I'll be coming by soon to take command of the ship."

Hearing that, Bertrand Beaulieu laughed out loud. "Don't worry about that, Kakazu," the seventh commanding officer of _Radisson_ — who would be turning over command to a new captain on Saturday — stated as he made a dismissive wave of his hand. "The older NRDs will be allowed to have their COs become full captains or commanders so they would be dual-hatted as flotilla commanders for the new NRDs being formed thanks to your Terran-form sisters. While I won't serve in that capacity after I'm relieved, my successor will be promoted to commander sometime soon and assume administrative responsibility for not just _Radisson_ but the NRD being stood up at Drummondville, _Saint-François_."

"I'm surprised they're not allowing officers like us to join up with the new units," Kakazu's bond-mate Azu Kakaru — who had taken her oaths prior to her lover's; as the former mistress of the Yashi-class corvette that had been the mobile home for the Renning sisters, Kakazu had insisted on all her subordinate officers being sworn in first — then mused. Kakaru herself had just joined the ship's company of Navire Canadien de Sa Majesté _Donnaconna_ in Montréal; even though the bonded couples among the plank owners were permitted to serve together on _Haida_, commanders of other units of the Navy — indeed, commanders in the rest of the Canadian Armed Forces — were all leery on the idea of such couples serving together in the same home unit elsewhere. "It'll help them become fully operational a lot faster."

"Even with the few personnel who've transferred to help out, they're doing pretty good already," the captain of _Donnaconna_, Lieutenant Commander Geoff Hamilton, chuckled.

"What about you, Commander?" Horan Vanna — who had just joined the 6e Bataillon of le Royal 22e Régiment in Saint-Hyacinthe east of Montréal on the Trans-Canada Highway; her bond-mate Tenwan Caril had joined the 4e Bataillon of the same regiment in Châteauguay to the southwest of Québec's largest city — then asked.

"I'll be brevet promoted to captain, Major," he replied. "The commanding officer of _Donnaconna_ will also serve as the captain of the Western Québec Flotilla, which will include _Richelieu_ in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and _la Hulloise_ in Gatineau near Ottawa."

"If it's two NRDs in a flotilla, the senior officer will be a commander. Three or more NRDs will be commanded by a captain. The regional area commanders will be commodores," Beaulieu added. "Except for whoever takes command of _Qikiqtaaluk_, though."

Sebone Shikuko — who had, at her boyfriend's request, come to the wardroom to witness the swearing-in of all the older gynoids-turned-bioroids while he was busy down on the ground in Port Robinson arranging things for a few people — blinked in confusion. "'_Qikiqtaaluk_?!'" she asked, trying not to stutter out the strange syllables.

"That's the Inuktitut name for Baffin Island, Ms. Sebone," the captain of _Radisson_ stated. "The new NRD we're forming up there will be based in the territorial capital of Iqaluit." He then smirked. "Even though they're going to commission a new H.M.C.S. _Baffin_ — that'll be the name-ship of the new arctic patrol vessels the Avalonians are building for the Navy — to serve up north, they decided to use the native name for the new NRD since they don't want to use the old European name for the place."

"What was that?" Noberu Miyako — now seated beside her bond-mate — asked.

"Frobisher Bay," the older man answered.

"Actually, they'll be using the old English name for the place as the name for the naval supplementary communications unit they're basing up there," Michelle Anderson — who had joined her permanent shipmates and the other former Urusian Defence Force officers in witnessing the oaths taken by the former gynoids — noted. "Ditto with the NSCU they're forming in Qausuittuq — that's Resolute Bay on Cornwallis Island on the north shore of the Northwest Passage — which'll also be a tender to _Qikiqtaaluk_."

"That must make the admiral pretty happy," Elaine Cooper noted.

"What do you mean, Doc?" Romaine Xavier wondered.

She smirked. "They're bringing back _Conestoga_ as a tender to _Prestonian_ in Kitchener, Romaine. It'll serve as a reserve supplementary communications unit."

"Oh! That was the place Admiral Thompkins first trained at!" Del Ula — who had joined H.M.C.S. _Prevost_ in London, which was the naval reserve division that was providing manning and logistics support to the newly-formed H.M.C.S. _Prestonian_ in nearby Kitchener — exclaimed. "Wasn't that based at an old girl's reform school?!"

"It was…but don't say that in front of the admiral, please!" Elaine warned as she held up a cautioning hand. "When she trained there as a third officer candidate, she could sense the empathic echoes of all the suffering and anger the girls who were incarcerated at that place before the war felt. It was a wonder to General Raeburn when she took her on as part of the War Hawks that the admiral was able to get through basic officer's training at _Conestoga_ without going totally insane."

"What about my basic training?"

Everyone snapped to attention as Heather Thompkins walked into the room. After the admiral waved everyone at ease, Bren Tai said, "Doctor Cooper was just telling us of what you went through when you did your basic officer's course at _Conestoga_, ma'am."

Heather blinked before she glared at Elaine, who made a warding sign with her hand to avert whatever curse or hex the older woman was about to unleash on her. "Didn't I once tell you to not say anything about that, Elaine?" she coldly enquired.

"That was my fault, ma'am," Ula said with an apologetic look. As Heather gazed on the silver-haired Oni-form Avalonian, the younger woman bowed her eyes. "I'm sorry, ma'am. But when I was talking to Commander White here, he was telling me about all the fun he and the others at _Prevost_ were having helping _Prestonian_ get organized." She waved to H.M.C.S. _Prevost_'s captain, Lieutenant Commander Jeffrey White, in emphasis. "He told me about _Conestoga_ being the base of your old service." She blushed. "Doctor Cooper just warned us not to speak too much about what happened when you were there."

Heather hummed before nodding. "So consider that a non-countermandable order from me, Lieutenant," she sternly stated before gazing at the others in the room. "That goes for the rest of you as well. Believe me, while I can understand all your curiosity about what I went through when I was your age, I don't like reflecting on certain things. What I picked up while I was at _Conestoga_ is one of them. Alright?"

"Yes, ma'am!" everyone chanted.

"Good! Now…!"

Heather then croaked out in shock on feeling something slam into her mind from aft. "**_ADMIRAL!_**" Elaine screamed out as she and several others moved to catch her from falling face-first onto the deck. "Lynn! Lie! Sien! Give me a hand here!"

Instantly, Lynn Kennison was at the doctor's side as she moved to mind-probe the older woman. Also helping Elaine were two provisional medical officers originally born as gynoids, Lieutenants (Navy) Uio Lie and Seq Sien. Their templates had been chosen for replication because they were fully-qualified general practitioners who had specialized in paediatrics; the real Lie and Sien had been killed during the recent purges due to their passionate and open support of the Imperial Round. Fortunately for them, the prior example of Avalonian healers — usually hailing from the outer colony worlds of the Phentax system, where they gained their knowledge thanks to native doctors, nurses and other health care providers who saw the bioroids as living beings and not "mere machines" — and the good work they had done since the Liberation had paved the way for both Lie and Sien to seek out proper accreditation as MDs with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario after a residency period under Elaine's supervision as well as time working at either the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto or McMaster Children's Hospital in Hamilton. Administratively, Lie had joined 25 Field Ambulance in Toronto while Sien joined its Hamilton-based sister unit, 23 Field Ambulance.

"A real powerful psychic burst," Lie — an Oni-form with long sandy blonde hair and dark brown eyes — reported after doing a light probe of the older woman's mind. "It came at her totally without warning. She's trying to…"

"Don't probe too much, Lie," Elaine ordered as Lynn injected a stimulant into Heather's neck. "Her Occlumency training will overwhelm you if you're not careful…"

"I'm not…as clumsy as…that, Elaine…!"

Heather's eyes fluttered open as the door to the wardroom swooped open to reveal an amused Luna Lovegood. On seeing the retired supreme mugwump of the International Conference of Magical Communities once more on her knees, the magical naturalist and news magazine reporter sighed. "Don't tell me!" she mused as she knelt before the veteran of World War Two, drawing out her wand as she performed some basic field healing diagnostics. "Let me guess. It's _**her**_ again, isn't it?!"

"Yes…and it came straight from aft this time," Heather moaned.

Hearing that, Douglas Tremblay cursed before he walked over to a nearby dataPADD. Tapping controls to do a quick internal scan of the ship, the Army military police officer blinked as he waited for a response…and then, when it came, his jaw dropped in surprise. "Admiral, we just had a bioroid sent aboard the ship in holding stasis," he said as he gazed on Heather. "Deck A9 Aft, Electronics Equipment Maintenance Room Fifteen." He then blinked. "Hey, wait a minute…"

"That's Mayumi's lab!" Jessica Miller exclaimed.

Douglas grunted. "Shit!" And with that, he was running out of the room, yanking out his communicator to send a message down to his people in Regulatory Flats…

* * *

Deck A9 Aft, five minutes later…

"What in Lyna's name is going on here?!"

Douglas turned as a very annoyed would-be ATIS technician stormed out from the nearby turbolift station, flanked on either side by two equally annoyed would-be infantry soldiers in full CADPATs with C7A2s at the ready. Noting the soaked hair and sweaty faces on both Triela Hilshire and Henrietta Croce, the military police officer was quick to conclude that both had come running up from the ship's gymnasium when they got the alert — no doubt, a psychic flash — from Asai Mayumi concerning something weird going on in her private workspace. Following the three plank owners was a scowling Marc Duchesne. "Interrupt something, Sergeant-Major?" Douglas asked with a smirk.

"Yes, sir," the infantry battalion RSM said with a polite nod as Triela and Henrietta moved to take positions alongside Don Glas and the other members of the ship's on-board security force — including eight of _Haida_'s plank owners who were going to train as military policewomen after the turn of the year — who had assumed two assault lines leading to the door of EEMR 15. "I just found out that while the new members of Number One Company are quite enthusiastic about serving in a new line regiment, they've fallen behind on some of their basic drills." Noting that Mayumi was accessing a bulkhead-mounted dataPADD next to the doorway to her sanctum sanctorum, Duchesne added, "Insane as this is going to sound to you, Captain, Miss Hilshire, Miss Croce and their sisters are in far BETTER shape than the people I got from Valcartier…which surprises the hell out of me since the Première Bataillon is supposed to be heading out to Kandahār later this year. If we were deployed to Afghanistan tomorrow, I'd choose to take the girls with me first!" He shook his head as all the Avalonians were quick to sense the mixture of annoyance and hidden delight the former special forces operator now felt at the idea of getting the chance to personally hammer a whole bunch of lazy soldiers into a proper fighting battalion of the Canadian Army. "As soon as we get the drafts for Two and Three Companies up here in the next few days, I'll arrange to drag them to Meaford for a month of hard combat drills. Hopefully, that'll get them into shape."

"God, sir, you're cruel!" Don Glas chuckled. "What'll you use for the OPFOR?!"

"I'm debating asking some friends from the 75th or CSOR to help out."

Rueful chuckles escaped the people around them as they imagined what an opposition force composed of American Army Rangers or members of the Canadian Special Operations Regiment — the Dominion's equivalent to the famous 75th Ranger Regiment in the United States — would do to a short battalion of Canadian Army line soldiers…before they all gaped as the door to Mayumi's workshop swooped open. "Mayumi!" Douglas barked out as she stormed in. "For God's sake, will you…!"

"It's alright, sir," Takizawa Kaoru said as she straightened herself, clicking on the safety of her Lawgiver. "Mayumi put in some sub-routines into the ship's internal security systems to tell her personally if something goes wrong in her shop. Whatever is in there is safe."

Hearing that, he sighed. "Alright! Stand down!" he ordered. As the other people relaxed themselves, he walked through the doorway into Mayumi's space to see the would-be ATIS technician standing in the middle of the room, fists to hips as she gazed forward. Looking that way, he then blinked on seeing the gestation chamber now sitting on the deck beside the diagnostic bed holding the unmoving Sunmee dai-Kohl. As Duchesne and Glas came in, followed by Triela, Henrietta and Kaoru, the military police officer gazed on the ship's resident mad scientist. "What happened?"

Mayumi sighed as she walked over to stand at the foot of the gestation chamber, waving the others over to join her. "Someone has just discovered how to make a _**male**_ bioroid, Captain," she said as she indicated the unmoving form inside the glass tube.

People gazed wide-eyed at her before looking themselves. "How's that possible, Private Asai?" Duchesne asked. "It's been emphatically stated again and again that the factory is not programmed to create male Avalonians. How the hell did THIS happen?!"

"That's what I want to find out before I even contemplate allowing _tre'cha_ to happen in this case," Mayumi stated as she adjusted her glasses. "Though…"

"It seems that our mysterious sister templated him to serve as Sunmee's new body."

Eyes locked on Kaoru, who was standing at Mayumi's work desk. "How did you…oh!" Glas asked before the blonde tomboy held up a folded sheet of paper with Mayumi's name written on the outside. Noting she was holding the letter by one corner so as to not contaminate it with fingerprints, he nodded in approval. Untrained though she was, Takizawa Kaoru was showing all the right instincts…which only needed a good coat of polish thanks to the teachers at the Canadian Forces Military Police Academy in Borden — she and her sisters would do their community college courses to give them their diplomas in law enforcement after they returned to _Haida_; normally, this had to be done BEFORE prospective military policemen were welcomed into the Forces — to make her one fine officer of the law. "Scan that for fingerprints please, Kaoru," he ordered.

"I doubt you'll find any."

People spun around as Luna Lovegood came in, followed by Heather Thompkins. "What do you mean, Lovegood-sensei?" Mayumi asked as the admiral walked around the others to kneel beside the gestation chamber, waving her hand to begin some diagnostic spells.

"Whenever our wonderful dragon-lover has stopped poachers and other evil-doers, she leaves behind notes like the one your sister here has in her fingers," Luna said as she waved to the note in question. "Always written via some sort of computer. Nothing hand-written. And there are no traces of fingerprints or ANY other biometric signature — magical or non — on those notes to give us any trace we could use to track her down."

"Why would she be so cautious?" Duchesne wondered. "Given all the good that woman's done over the last few months, who would complain about her?"

"People who see dragons as no different than cattle or sheep, Marc," Heather stated as she allowed a scanning pentagram to appear before her. "Magical dragons — if you haven't been briefed on them — native to Earth possess human-level intelligence. While the ICMC instituted strict controls on culling of physical body parts when I was in charge of it back in the Fifties, there's always been a large underground market — normally driven by the staleblood, inbred idiots in Europe who think they're superior to every other living being on the planet — for such things. Confronting a woman — a 'muggle' at that — with power equal to Dean's would make a lot of people upset."

"And if her friends aren't properly protected, they can be targeted," Luna added. "Something tells me, however, that our dragon-lover and her friends have been through something quite worse. The one time I got very close to her, I couldn't ignore the aura of sheer PAIN she kept buried deep inside her heart…which was matched to a determination to ensure nothing would ever hurt her again by any means possible."

"And given how ignorant most dragon-poachers are to technology, confronting someone packing a Lawgiver or a Peacemaker — or whatever weird weapon our friend possesses — who can hit from far beyond normal duelling range for wands wouldn't compute," Heather finished before her eyes went wide. "Oh, ho! Looks like she paid Zhòuquán-xiāng a recent visit. Not to mention got hold of the Zhǐshuǐtǒng to lock the curse in."

"Nánnìquán, Admiral?" Luna asked.

The older woman returned that look. "What else would one use?"

Douglas perked. "Isn't that what Miss Miyamoto's friend got hit with, ma'am?"

"Ranma got dosed with the curse of the Niángnìquán, Doug," Heather reported; the ship's universal translator fields would make the Army captain understand what that word meant. "As Luna just surmised, Sunmee's new body here got the opposite, the Nánnìquán. Atop that, the curse was locked into place thanks to a magical artifact that a neighbouring tribe to the Nǚjiézú, the Màshǐké, presently possess. One splash of water touched with the Zhǐshuǐtǒng will block the body from being reverted back to its original form." She dispersed her diagnostic spells before straightening herself. "No doubt, our friend learned of the one way one can stay in a cursed form after being hit with a curse from Zhòuquán-xiāng."

By then, Kaoru had finished scanning the letter with a tricorder and was now opening it. A quick scan of the note there before she handed it to Mayumi. "Outside the Faravahar symbol that identifies our sister as a practicing Zoroastrian, the letter's unsigned, Admiral," the would-be military policewoman reported. "It confirms what you just reported…but there's an extra note added to it saying that our sister's scanned Sunmee from afar and states it'll be safe to go straight to _tre'cha_ with him."

"I'd rather have a mind-healer look at him first," Mayumi cautioned.

Heather nodded. "You feel safe in activating Sunmee to the standby state you had Lara in when we had her own the hangar deck yesterday so people can look him over?" she asked.

The younger woman smiled. "There was no physical damage to any of his systems, Admiral. When he was hit with that bolt of energy on Sunday, his internal systems automatically shielded his higher brain functions from any power overload by doing an emergency shut-down. After what we've seen of his mind, he'll be stunted emotionally because of the programming caps…but I think we can go ahead with the _tre'cha_ after he's checked over one last time by Hitora, Commander Kennison and I. You as well, of course."

"Well, let's get him to Sick Bay," the admiral bade…

* * *

Sick Bay, after lunch…

"Oh, my! I never thought he was so handsome!"

Henrietta — who, along with Triela and all the plank owners who had volunteered to become military policewomen, had helped Mayumi transport Sunmee and his replacement body down from the latter's laboratory — smiled before she gazed on Miyamoto Kasumi. The would-be doctor had just returned from Port Robinson; Ataru and his sister Negako were still down there as they worked with Maijima Karen to plot out the locations of new places of residence for all the people that had just joined _Haida_ in the last few days. "Yes, he is that, isn't he?!" She then sighed. "I just hope she's right."

"The Vinur Drekar?" Kasumi asked.

"Oh, my! You like that term, too?!"

The eldest daughter of Tendō Sōun giggled as Luna came up to join them. "Of course!" she said as she gazed on the magical reporter from Devon. "The term sounds so exotic to me! Is it true that the Icelanders are actually descent from the Vikings?"

"Yes, they are…on both sides of the secrecy divide," Luna affirmed with a nod. She had felt an emotional kinship with Miyamoto Kasumi since they had first met on the _Hood_ when the Task Force had gone out to Yaminokuni over a week before. Both women had lost their mothers at roughly the same time in their lives, which had emotionally scarred them very deeply. Both had to become virtual replacement homemakers for their widowed fathers…though Kasumi had faced the extra task of helping raise her younger sisters Nabiki and Akane along the way. And both had to gain some very powerful friends to help them fully recover from the loss of their mothers and move on with their lives. "But if you ask me, Iceland is what our American friends would call a 'mixed' situation. Since most normal Icelanders believe the Huldufólk really do exist to one extent or another, I really doubt that the Statute of Secrecy is needed there anymore."

Kasumi nodded. "Why was the Statute passed in the first place?"

"Well, rhabdophobia — it's also called 'mageiaphobia' — was just too rampant in Europe at the time," Luna confessed. "Yes, with the appearance of the Steel Angels in the 1920s and metahumans like Elaine, Lynn and Maria in the 1930s — to say anything of the admiral herself in the 1940s when she became part of the War Hawks — it does sound a little absurd these days to keep the Statute going. Atop that, back in the 1600s, families like the Malfoys loved to interact with the royal court of England; some claim that an ancestor of my 'friend' Draco Malfoy cursed Queen Elizabeth because she didn't want anything to do with him…though he wouldn't have got away with it since we magicals were bound by oaths of loyalty to the Crown long before the Separation Act was made law." She then smirked. "Which proves what sort of hypocrites the stalebloods that backed Tom Riddle really are in the long term."

Kasumi hummed. "After I met you and Terry, I've read about what you and your friends went through back in the 1990s because of that awful Riddle fellow. Didn't people like the Malfoys pick up on the fact that their leader was actually a half-blood? And a half-blood with a 'muggle' father?" She made quote-marks on saying that. "At least Harry Potter's parents were both magical even if his mother was a normal-born."

"The first generation of Death Eaters — Draco's grandfather Abraxas, for example — probably saw Tom's descent from Headmaster Slytherin as the main factor in acknowledging him as their spiritual leader," Luna answered. "They must have believed that because he was directly descent from one of the Founders of Hogwarts, the magical power of the Slytherin line would erase Tom's 'muggle' taint. If they knew of it, of course; Tom was always a very secretive fellow." She snorted before gazing on the unmoving bioroid on the diagnostic bed in the recovery room; Sunmee was in a nearby isolation ward, being examined in detail by Maria Kennison with the help of Mayumi and a few others before he would be permitted to become a bioroid. "By the time the next generation came along in the 1960s, whatever clues might have been there connecting Voldemort to Tom Riddle had been eliminated. Albus Dumbledore knew the truth, but he always stayed quiet about it."

"Why?"

"Hard to say. Letting that information go public might have worked to erode some support from Voldemort when he started making waves in the 1970s — after all, the Meretrice family in Rhosan Green knew the truth about him and they'd been pretty much cut off from normal wizarding society for years — but I doubt it. There was too much in the way of mugalophobia driving their desire to 'purify' the wizarding world." She snorted. "Of course, if they actually succeeded in driving the normal-borns and 'blood traitors' out of Britain, the ICMC would have gladly come in and crushed them. They didn't want to see the Queen call Admiral Thompkins and her friends into it."

Kasumi giggled. The sheer THREAT the War Hawks — who were all physically in their late twenties; many credited Dean Raeburn's Power Jewel as the primary cause of their quasi-immortality — could present to any potential foe was enough to make even the most rabid attacker take pause before assaulting something or someone under the protection of any or all of the veterans of the 1st Canadian Specialized Warfare Unit. Not only did doing such guarantee that the attacker would be DEAD after s/he was detected, those who supported such an attack would be hunted to the ends of the earth — and the galaxy, too! — by the Canadian metahumans without delay, ensuring it wouldn't happen again. Given the ease by which the Prime Minister of Canada could have called Earth's Jewel Warrior back to official duty the previous summer if the Tag Race had gone totally south for Moroboshi Ataru, it amazed Kasumi that the leadership on Uru actually went forward with their "invasion" in the first place. Never mind the presence of Moroboshi Negako in Ataru's mind — Kasumi knew of the "self-defence trigger" in the magic of the Promise of Bunka Go-nen that made any lethal attack on the host of the _Saikō Jinseijutsu_ a guaranteed suicide run — at the time; Dean Raeburn could have been back to Earth from wherever she was within MINUTES, tearing into the _Kashin_ with the same brutal, deadly élan she demonstrated against members of Nazi Germany's Übermenschen Gruppe and metahuman agents of Imperial Japan's Black Dragon Society across Canada and the United States during the years between the attack on Pearl Harbour near the end of 1941 and the invasion of Normandy thirty months later.

_Such arrogant, stupid people!_ the eldest Miyamoto daughter mused to herself before she tensed as the door leading to the isolation room opened. "Eh?!"

Everyone turned as the still-faceless Sunmee — with a fibre-optic cable connected to the open programming port on his breastbone, that connected to Mayumi's dataPADD — walk slowly out of the isolation room, guided along by the would-be ATIS technician. As Henrietta guided Kasumi and Luna away from the android now approaching the bed bearing his replacement body, Lynn Kennison walked over to a nearby table so she could slip on a pair of meson-lined gloves. Just as he was about to walk straight into the bed, Mayumi keyed a control to stop Sunmee. "How is he?" Kasumi asked as she tried to use her empathic senses to scan the android, shivering on sensing next to nothing inside him.

"He's still a mess," Lynn breathed out as she walked over to stand next to the newly-formed bioroid's right side. "He's in there…but he's been suppressed for so long, I don't know what shape he'll be in when we shift his soul over to his new body. I sure hope whoever the girl was that created this bioroid is right on target."

"Are there Avalonian mind-healers in Canada who can help?" Luna asked the chief nurse.

"About three dozen to my knowledge," Elaine stated as she came out, a medical tricorder in hand. Uio Lie and Seq Sien followed her out, both with dataPADDs of their own in hand so they could make notes on what they were observing here. "Most of them are busy with the hybrid-only communities in the more remote sections of Ontario, Québec and the Prairies, though; I doubt we could get anyone up here to work with this fellow."

"Then again, there is basic intimate therapy, Doctor," Sien proposed. Another of the Seishin-form Urusian-pattern gynoids that had watched over the Renning sisters for the last three years, she had neck-length chocolate brown hair and amber-brown eyes. "Even if he had been used in a sort of 'overseer' role here, all Sunmee would have to do is mind-meld with any of the girls here — or on _Yamato_ — to understand all the good that's been done to them and all their sisters elsewhere. Atop that, his father is long since dead, so whatever 'mission' he was programmed to follow that brought him here in the first place really has no meaning anymore." She then giggled as she gazed fondly on Uio; they were bond-mates. "Then again, there is the _marei'cha_ option as well."

"True," the blonde Oni-form Avalonian giggled in turn.

Elaine groaned as she exchanged an "**Are they serious?!**" look with Maria Kennison, who had helped her twin and the others examine Sunmee. As the intelligence officer based now in Kingston tried to not roll her eyes at her friend's reaction, both Luna — who was quite empathic in her own way even if she wasn't an Avalonian — and Kasumi stifled back their snickers on seeing the chief medical officer's reaction to something that clearly struck her as horribly unprofessional. "Well, I suppose there's no real time than the present to see if the Vinur Drekar is right about this situation," the would-be doctor from Japan noted. "Besides, Doctor Sien has a point. After I crossed over, I had my time of the month with Narumi almost within an hour. I'm sure one of the unattached girls here would be perfect for him." She gazed on Mayumi. "A pity Tori took you, Mayumi."

"It was the luck of the Te'a, Kasumi," Mayumi said as she tapped controls to make sure Sunmee remained in diagnostic mode to allow the _tre'cha_ to go through as smoothly as possible. "But you're right about the possibility of one of the girls aboard netting him. Etta, you're pretty much single. You want to scoop this fellow up?"

"No!" Henrietta exclaimed. "I want to get through basic and trades training first before I worry about a bond-mate!" She then smiled as her cheeks slightly reddened. "Besides, there is Elsa!"

"'Elsa?'" Luna asked.

"Elsa de Sica, Luna," Kasumi provided. "She's another one of the girls aboard the ship who was physically based on one of the _Gunslinger Girl_ characters when she was created. Rather tragic character; when her _fratello_ rejected her love for him, she shot him in the back of the head, then turned the gun on herself."

Luna blinked. "Why?!"

"_Gunslinger Girl_ is the story of child cyborgs turned into Terminator-like beings to do the dirty work of the Italian government, Lovegood-sensei," Henrietta stated. "My namesake there was a child who was the survivor of a hit on a family by some criminal gang. She was also raped and left for dead. When she was rebuilt as a cyborg, she had her memories wiped out and she was made to be slavishly loyal to her controller, Jose Croce; that's where I got my family name from. All my sisters' namesakes — Rico, Triela, Claes, Elsa, Angelica, Yelizaveta, Beatrice, Silva and Chiara — were pretty much the same way." As Luna gaped in horror at her, Henrietta shrugged. "At least Sunmee's father wasn't a paedophile, thank Lyna!"

"Merlin!" Luna hoarsely exclaimed. "Is that a popular manga?!"

"Still being published in _Dengeki Daiō_; the story's been ongoing since 2002," Henrietta answered as she gently squeezed the English witch's shoulders, using her empathy to ensure Luna didn't give in to a sudden bout of nausea and throw up her lunch all over Sunmee's new body. "I even have 'little sisters' in Italy and elsewhere who WERE created as children…though they weren't sexually abused by their masters before the Liberation happened."

"At least there haven't been replicas of the _Battle Royale_ girls created," Uio noted.

"Wasn't that a novel?" Maria asked.

"Later became a movie and a manga series, Maria. It's Darling's favourite manga," Uio answered. "It's in the ship's library, along with Darling's review of the storyline and characters."

"What was that about?" Luna hesitantly wondered.

"Imagine being told — when you were in third form at Hogwarts — that you had to either kill all your year-mates in a three-day running battle…or be killed in turn. That would be your ONLY way out of whatever 'arena' you were put into: Kill or die. There can only be ONE survivor at the end," Elaine said. As Luna turned VERY pale on hearing that and the others gazed in surprise on hearing that from her, the chief medical officer smiled. "I saw the movie based on the novel in the original Japanese thanks to a friend of mine who has friends there."

"Who's his favourite character?" Kasumi asked. "I would assume Sōma Mitsuko."

"She's up there, but not at the top," Mayumi said, clearly not bothered by the weird swing the conversation around her had taken. "Mitsuko's too sexy for him — strange as it is for me to say that concerning Onii-sama! — and she's a child rape victim, too."

"'**_Child rape?!_**'" Luna gargled.

"In the manga storyline — which is what Onii-sama is familiar with; he's never read the novel or seen the movie — her stepfather made her a sex toy after he married her mother when she was nine years old," Mayumi provided. "When she finally had enough about three years later, Mitsuko arranged for a Yakuza kobun to kill them both…but by then, the damage was well and truly done. She became a teenage prostitute and formed her own little girl-gang with Shimizu Hirono and Yahagi Yoshimi. When she got sucked into _The Program_, she decided she was going all out to win the game. Unfortunately, she ran across Kiriyama Kazuo, who was quite mentally damaged in his own right and proved invulnerable to her many delightful physical charms." She shook her head as she finished the last bits of programming into Sunmee before reaching over to unplug her dataPADD from his chest.

"So who IS Ataru's favourite character from that story?" Maria asked after using her telepathy to get a quick look into Mayumi's and Henrietta's minds to see their memories of the manga.

"It's a tie between Inada Mizuho and Noda Satomi," Mayumi reported. "Mizuho because she's the most unique of the characters in the class; Onii-sama is always attracted to the unique characters. And Satomi because she's something of an unknown — the writer of the original novel and the writer/artist of the later manga series didn't delve too deeply into her — and that makes her a woman of mystery to Onii-sama. He's always wished the secondary characters were better covered in the manga; after all, it did go for fifteen volumes." She sighed. "Then again, the original story pretty much concentrated on the two survivors of _The Program_ — Nanahara Shūya and Nakagawa Noriko — as well as Kawada Shōgo and the two 'villains' of the piece, Kiriyama Kazuo and Sōma Mitsuko. Onii-sama's always had something of a love-hate relationship with that series. Great characterization, but all save two of a class of forty-two third-year middle school students get killed off at the end." She snorted as she moved to close Sunmee's programming port, then pulled his face mask from her smock pocket to put that back where it belonged. "What's worse, almost all the fan fiction stories written on that series either covers variations of the basic storyline set in other nations…or little vignettes set before the main story happened. There's only been TWO stories — at least to Onii-sama's knowledge — written on the Internet that have shown more than just Shūya and Noriko escaping that island."

"Then again, that was the whole point of the story, Mayumi," Henrietta noted as Luna shook her head at the idea of writers actually thinking up of storylines like _**that**_ to put out to the reading public. "I always saw it as a perfect portrayal of the mad dash for success people in Japan feel these days when it comes to moving up in life. First to pass into high school, first to pass the Centre Test, first to pass into Tōkyō University, fighting tooth and nail to get to the top of the pecking order…" She breathed out. "It's a pity _The Hunger Games_ came out so recently. Given that _Battle Royale_ came out in film in 2000 and the manga series was published between then and 2005, it would have probably made quite the big hit in North America."

"The massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado happened in 1999, the year before the film came out, Henrietta," Lynn warned as she gently flexed the new bioroid's fingers to make sure they could absorb Sunmee's soul with ease. "I remember there was something really bad that happened at a school in California in 2001. Then there was the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007 and something that went down in Illinois the year after that."

"Doubt there'll be much more of that — even in the States — with Avalonians around, all packing Lawgivers," Elaine noted. "Some maniac shows up with a gun to kill kids…and he or she'll be hit with stun shots fifteen ways before the first round is fired."

"Wouldn't be too sure of that. Especially in the States, Elaine," Kasumi warned.

A rueful nod from _Haida_'s chief doctor. "Good point…"

* * *

The bioroid factory, the top level of Gestation Tower #98, that moment…

"I'M one of Ataru's favourite manga characters?!"

Inada Mizuho tried not to smirk as she gazed in amusement at her classmate. She had been using the Staff of Gihan to monitor events concerning Sunmee dai-Kohl when her friends came to join her. "Do you doubt the wise Lady Mayumi's words to that end, Satomi?"

A madly-blushing Noda Satomi was trying not to either scream out in frustration at the would-be warrior-priestess' continued adherence to her argument about what would NOT happen come the first anniversary of their rebirth aboard the factory the day of the Liberation…or pass out in embarrassment at the idea of someone as handsome and as nice as _**Moroboshi Ataru**_ of all people actually thinking of a shy, insomniac bookworm like HER of all the girls in the Multiverse as a "woman of mystery!" "Well, there's no disagreeing with Ataru's incredible good taste," Nakagawa Yūka mused as she gave her fellow "lighthouse girl" an amused look. When it came to the one overriding question about the Shiroiwa Junior High School seniors from 2000 and their place in this universe, Yūka was neutral even if she deeply hoped Mizuho was right about their NOT being forced back to the dimension of their birth come the next February. "And seeing as how the manga didn't really cover the lives of many of us past Noriko-chan, Mitsuko-chan, Shūya-kun, Kazuo-kun, Shōgo-kun and Shinji-kun, I can see why Ataru would be intrigued by someone like Satomi-chan here. Much less Mizuho-chan!"

Laughter filled the domed chamber that served normally as Mizuho's private quarters overlooking the vast "weather deck" of the bioroid factory, with Earth in the far distance "ahead" of them and the Moon looming at their "backs." "Speaking of which, given how much Taguchi-sensei loved to be graphic about Mitsuko and what she went through, I'd be personally embarrassed if that was me!" Yahagi Yoshimi noted as she finished polishing her toenails. Like Yūka, the "little sister" of Sōma Mitsuko's gang was neutral in the debate concerning their staying or being forced to go back home. Unlike the class clown however, Yoshimi found Mizuho to be a little too weird for her tastes…and that didn't cover the fact that the former was scared to death of the Staff of Gihan even if the seventeen millennia-old device had been used to actually SAVE HER LIFE! Going back to the Greater East Asia Republic in what the government viewed as "Republic Year 56" — despite the awful risks — did seem comforting to her since it was familiar territory.

"It was pretty graphic, wasn't it?" Mitsuko hummed as she filed her fingernails before she giggled as Shimizu Hirono embraced her from behind. "Hey! Hirono!"

"You ain't sellin' yourself, Mitsu!" the spiky-haired tomboy warned as she glared at her gang-sister. "Even if I have to fuckin' use _mavan'shagh_ on you to make you my bond-mate! After all the crap you've been through, I won't stand for it!"

The sultry raven-haired beauty with the ice blue eyes grinned on sensing her friend's passionate desire to not see her slip back into the behaviour that earned her the English nickname "Hardcore" on the streets of Shiroiwa before she leaned back to lean her head on Hirono's shoulder. "You'll never take my trust away," she whispered.

The others in the room smiled on hearing that childish voice escape her. While it was glaringly obvious that Mitsuko would need a LOT of intensive psychotherapy to repair the six years of accumulated damage her soul had taken thanks to her paedophilic stepfather and a mother who had sold her father out to the authorities for actually daring to DEFY the needs of _The Program_ when it came to his old junior high school senior homeroom class in Takamatsu back in the late winter of 1990, a lot had been done to heal those wounds over the previous five months. After they had all been clued into the true horror of what Mitsuko had endured thanks to the gay Niphentaxian teen who had effectively seen them saved from what lay beyond the Te'a, the Shiroiwa girls read copies of the _Battle Royale_ manga in the bioroid factory computer mainframes…then, for the most part, spent an hour worshipping at the altar of the porcelain goddess thanks to the nausea they felt on realizing how badly hurt "Hardcore" Sōma really was. After that, they got together with an understandably-nervous Mitsuko and — much to the former prostitute's public embarrassment and private amusement — dreamt up all sorts of unbelievable horrors they would want to unleash on her stepfather for doing something so ugly to her at age NINE! Suggestions ranged from Sakaki Yūko's variation of the "death of a thousand cuts" concept using dull steak knives coated in curare poison to Chigusa Takako's idea of borrowing an Italian Mafia theme of making him a "turkey" by skinning him alive and stuffing the skin and bones like some hunting trophy…with his living brain still INSIDE his feather-filled skull!

Personally, Mitsuko liked Mizuho's suggestion of using the Staff of Gihan to yank her stepfather's soul through the dimensional veil, inserting same into a female clone body — NOT Avalonian, of course! — based on his DNA, then dumping him in the seediest part of Bangkok to be raped by every sex tourist that came along. Even better, "she" would be kept immune from sexually transmitted diseases and would be made to relive all the times "she" was raped in "her" dreams until it finally drove "her" totally mad.

That eventually evoked the "big cry" all the Shiroiwa girls had when it came to realizing what they had just been through, which soon was followed by their moving to learn everything they could about their new place of residence and what being there actually meant. It was around that time, Mizuho remembered, that Satomi made her discovery about the laws of inter-dimensional travel and came to believe that their stay aboard the bioroid factory was limited to one solar year. That — stacked onto the feelings of rejection and abandonment all of them, even Mizuho, felt towards the adults back home that ALLOWED them to be sucked into _The Program_ in the first place — fuelled a growing paranoia about being discovered and being sent back to the universe of the Greater East Asia Republic without any support or means to defend themselves. No matter what Mizuho tried to do to make any of them see otherwise, the other Shiroiwa girls wouldn't accept ANY suggestion towards making open contact with anyone — not even Moroboshi Ataru…whom many of the girls were understandably attracted to after what they had witnessed in February and March concerning his actions on the factory — outside the bounds of Tower #98.

Because of that, Mizuho herself — so as to not alienate her friends when they desperately needed help the most — had to be VERY circumspect when it came to her many trips to Earth and Nerio to observe life here. While the others DID support such trips — and did understand where their classmate was ultimately coming from when it came to using the Staff's cosmic power to help those in need, especially when it came to such things as protecting dragon hatchlings and other vulnerable creatures from poachers — as it expanded their own understanding of this dimension's Earth, they insisted on such trips being BRIEF…especially when one factored in a certain ninjutsu grandmaster's ability to sense out things via Earth's many ley lines, _**twenty**_ of which intersected not two kilometres from her family dōjō in Tomobiki!

They didn't push the would-be Zoroastrian warrior-priestess too far on that point, though.

Now being quite powerful empaths thanks to their new bodies, they all knew that Mizuho was starting to get VERY tired of constantly being made to defer to their own paranoia.

If they pushed her TOO far…!

Of course, Mizuho wouldn't even THINK of abandoning her classmates — especially the girls that, in another time and place, she once passionately viewed as the "warriors in waiting," Etō Megumi and Minami Kaori — to fend for themselves while she gave in to her own passions and sought out the man in whose embrace she would live the rest of her very long life. Despite the chants in HER inner soul that demanded she go to Ataru as soon as possible and offer herself to him as his true soul-mate, her sense of responsibility — magnified by her mastering the Staff of Gihan when she struck down Geran dai-Farosh's evil grandfather while the Liberation was happening — concerning her friends was ironclad and she would not abandon it. Driven by the Zoroastrian creed of "Good thoughts, good words and good deeds," the former _Dungeons and Dragons_ role-playing gamer saw making good and happy lives for her classmates — and eventually ALL the _Program_ players once their souls had been brought across the dimensional veil, they were given new life on the factory and allowed to live in a Japan that NEVER had reason to evolve into the Greater East Asia Republic in the first place — as the most vital task which had been set before her by the Wise Master Ahura Mazdā Himself.

She HAD to succeed in that task!

Not even her inner desire for Moroboshi Ataru to become her _marei'cha_ — no matter how much it often hurt her these days — could come before finally seeing the others truly safe and sound.

Still…

She tried not to smirk as she ignored the others chatting away behind her as she focused on the barely-visible beacon of light over Lake Ontario that marked _Haida_.

Thanks to Henrietta Croce and Asai Mayumi, she knew of another way to make the others finally accept some things about their immediate futures.

And while it DID take rather crass advantage of the attitudes towards the one profound thing most teenage girls — even in a place like the Greater East Asia Republic — often fantasized about, it would work.

"…Ataru sees the rest of us."

Mizuho perked. "What was that, Haruka?"

Tanizawa Haruka was the tallest of the Shiroiwa girls. A striker on the girls volleyball team, she had been the one who had urged the others to participate in daily calisthenics exercises — in reflection of what was enforced on elementary and middle school students in the Republic…no doubt to prepare them for _The Program_ in case their class was called to do their "profound civic duty" — to stay in shape. Even the stocky and once-overweight Yūka had trimmed out quite nicely because of the hourly regimen they subjected themselves to every day. "I was just wondering about where the rest of us fit on Ataru's list of favourite manga characters," the green-eyed girl with the bobcut brown hair mused. "I mean, if _Battle Royale_ IS his favourite manga…"

Mizuho tried not to jump and down and cheer. "I can tell you that, my friend," she calmly declared as she gave the other woman a knowing smile.

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"_**HOW?!**_" the others all screamed out as they stared wide-eyed at her.

The would-be warrior-priestess smiled. "Late on Wednesday evening last, just after the Lady Negako went off on the doughty _Kirkpatrick_ to Yaminokuni to see her beloved Lady Kaga restored to true life, I teleported myself into Ataru's bedroom; this was just before our good sisters came to unite that house and the old Moroboshi guest house together to accommodate the Great Emperor's expanding family and allow the Ladies Shikuko and Miyako a chance to live with Ataru in comfort." As the others gasped in shock — they all knew their classmate had become quite audacious over the last few months, but THAT was pushing it! — Mizuho gazed on them. "In my explorations, I found an interesting book Ataru had in his desk which contained a master list of all his favourite manga characters. Since he had driven Lady Hensō out some months before, he didn't see need to secure things like that in his personal safety deposit box at the local branch of Inshin Bank."

"Mizuho!" Kaori screeched. "You can't go looking into Ataru's diary like that! Look what Hensō and Ataru's stupid mother did to him all the time! How could…?!"

"Kaori, please!" Mizuho snapped back as she glared at the freckled girl with the braided black hair and the blue eyes behind reading glasses, that making Kaori wilt. "I would never DREAM of violating Ataru's private words and thoughts like that! Yes, I should not have gone into his bedroom uninvited…but given that the majority of us — myself included! — have dreamt many times of when he would take our maidenheads and make us women, my curiosity got the better of me." She then glared at Hirono. "And before YOU complain, Hirono, I'm much more careful than that, especially given the Lady Negako's power and skill!" As the blonde girl with the deep brown eyes flustered in embarrassment, the would-be warrior-priestess sighed. "I noted earlier on — just before that attack on his home by the Urusians and their Niphentaxian allies — that Ataru had shown Shikuko and Miyako some of his personal artwork. I was curious." She held up the Staff. "Show her, my good friend."

If the ancient Sagussan weapon could smile in amusement, it would. _**As you desire, Controller.**_

The others blinked as a holographic image appeared, that showing a beautiful pencil-and-India ink sketch of Hirono — as she had been portrayed in the near-realistic style Taguchi Masayuki employed in the manga — on the streets of Shiroiwa, the Colt Python .357 Magnum revolver she had been issued with when she had been sent out to kill or die in one hand. She was shown in a leather flight jacket, form-fitting jeans and a T-shirt with the movie wreathed "BR" insignia — that crossed out with the universal circle-with-diagonal slash prohibition sign — on her chest. "Damn…!" Mitsuko's nominal number two breathed out as her pale cheeks reddened in embarrassment.

"Did he do all of us?!" Takako demanded.

"Aye," Mizuho said as she sent the Staff a mental command.

More images flashed before her classmates. Takako in hunting clothes, holding the crossbow that Niida Kazushi had tried to use on her on Oki-shima. Kaori as an idol singer like her beloved Kenzaki Jun'ya, singing her heart out on the stage in front of a band and screaming fans. Yūka dressed like one of Santa Claus' elves with a bunch of children in the park, she handing them colourful balloons. Yoshimi as a fashion model, showing off something that clearly had to have come from the late Yves Saint Laurent. Haruka in a tastefully-designed bikini, serving as a lifeguard at the beach, calling out to someone with a bullhorn. Yūko in casual clothes, praying before an altar, the Christian cross in the background. Megumi in trendy clothes, walking down the street chatting on a cell phone. Mitsuko in the jean jacket, short skirt and T-shirt combination she had worn on Oki-shima, killing a whole bunch of snarling humanoid monsters with her kama scythe. Kusaka Yumiko and Kitano Yukiko as police officers directing traffic, yelling through bullhorns. Fujiyoshi Fumiyo working at a gardening store, picking flowers for a customer. Utsumi Yukie in a pullover sweater and jeans, cheering at what appeared to be a baseball game. Matsui Chisato in relaxed business clothes, looking as if she was a reporter for a major news agency. Kanai Izumi playing in a game of basketball. Tendō Mayumi in a trendy skirt and blouse, serving as an announcer at a sports game. Kotohiki Kayoko in the Chinese clothes of a master of wǔshù, fighting with the same type of bō staff her boyfriend often used. Ogawa Sakura in trendy clothes on the streets shopping, looking as if she was the happiest woman alive. And their group's _ashi'cha_ and the female survivor of their class' run through _The Program_, Nakagawa Noriko, who was depicted in normal clothes working at the Charity House, cooking for the orphans who lived there.

The images were then dispersed. "Oi, Mizu! What about you and Tomi?!" Hirono asked.

Mizuho smirked. "Given that Satomi and I rate the highest of all of us on Ataru's list of favourite 'fictional' characters, his pictures of Satomi and I tended to slur more to the erotic than what he did for all of you. I'd rather show Satomi in private."

"He has wet dreams of you two?!" Yūka teased as Satomi blushed.

"I honestly can't answer that, my friend. But I will say that when it comes to Satomi, Ataru's portrayals of her tend to lean towards the 'naughty librarian' or similar themes," the would-be warrior-priestess said, trying not to smirk on seeing Satomi's cheeks redden to the **Don't Point That at MY Planet!** stage. "As for myself, I…"

"You're probably shown either as a character from _Dungeons and Dragons_…or as a real priestess at a fire temple," Megumi noted; even if she did find Mizuho's passion a lot to take at times, they were friends and Megumi would gladly defend her, even from Yūka's teasing.

"Alright, that's enough."

Eyes locked on Noriko. The Elder Mother of the Shiroiwa girls had long since stopped blushing every time her classmates did that to her whenever she moved to take control of things. Deep down, she would have preferred to allow Yukie — who had been the girls' _iinchō_ back in Shiroiwa — to be the _ashi'cha_ given the latter's determination to stand and fight when she gathered the other "lighthouse girls" together after they were sent out of the school building on Oki-shima. There was no actual extra psionic power when one was made Elder Mother of a group of Avalonians…but there was a strong moral dignity to the post, which Noriko felt she really hadn't earned the right to possess; unlike her friends, she hadn't dirtied her hands in _The Program_ until she used a gun to stop Kiriyama Kazuo from hurting Nanahara Shūya near the end of those three hellish days on that damned island!

"It's suppertime and some of us have kitchen duty," she said as she rose from Mizuho's bed. The bioroid factory ran on Greenwich Mean Time; the holographic chronometer on the transparent aluminium dome showed the time to be 6:14 PM. "Mizuho's had a long day helping Sunmee-san get his life back, so let's let her rest up. Call us when the food's ready, Yūko."

"Hai!" Yūko called out as the others rose.

They slowly streamed out of the room, heading down to the recreation level set above the uppermost of the thirty gestation decks in Tower #98. The last of the group to move to leave was Noriko herself…who paused as she gazed back on the would-be warrior-priestess who saved them from the slavery their new sisters elsewhere had endured — however brief it would have been given that the Liberation was launched at the very hour of their awakening inside their gestation tubes — and had protected twenty scared young women from a universe that was both wondrous and dangerous beyond reason. Mizuho was gazing towards Earth and the _Haida_. Noriko never understood what was it about the Canadian starship that always attracted Mizuho's attention.

Or was it _someone_…?

If…

_Masaka!_ she mentally gasped as her skin paled. _Why on Earth didn't I see it before?!_

"I will be his. He will be mine. The Master has told me that already, Noriko."

Noriko's cheeks reddened — Mizuho, thanks to the Staff, had developed an almost-cosmic level of empathy — at being sensed out before she bowed her eyes apologetically as the other woman gazed her way, her pale blue eyes tearing slightly. Before she could stammer an apology, Mizuho made a wave of her hand to activate a privacy screen to the lower floors. "We will stay, Noriko," the would-be warrior-priestess said with a tired sigh as she gazed once more into space. "To next February and beyond — even if we choose to go back to forever destroy that perversity calling itself a 'republic' to stop _The Program_ forever…though we would not be able to remain there — to the end of our very long lives, we will stay."

Noriko sighed. Like many of the others, she had been neutral in that argument…even though she found it a lot easier to accept Satomi's rational explanations than Mizuho's diehard faith. Also like the others, Noriko thought the current mistress of the Staff of Gihan often came on pretty strong when she let her passions overtake her. Still, giri and ninjō both demanded that the woman's viewpoints had to be heard and respected…even if it was hard to fully agree with them. "Mizuho, even if…!"

A hand was raised in acknowledgement. "I sometimes wish the other _haijo-ju_ were available for you to possess so you can see as I do," Mizuho confessed. "Be reasonable with yourself, Noriko. You've seen the Te'a with your mind's eye since your Awakening just before Geran left us to find the Genesis Wand so our male classmates could live again without the necessity of enduring sex-changes. Have you not allowed yourself to extend your senses to those other dimensions we can perceive if we push ourselves? Even back home to Shiroiwa?" She gazed on the other woman. "You still are worried about your brother, after all. Yes, I'm sure the Americans would have publicly reported that you and Shūya died on the freighter the Staff found you on after Shinji's aunt helped you escape Oki-shima — which would guarantee his release from custody — but your love for your brother is very strong."

Noriko blinked before she nodded. "Hai, I do think about Kinji-chan a lot," she breathed out. "And I wish I could fully understand what you see, Mizuho-chan…but…" She shrugged as her green eyes teared. "Even if we can stay, would he…?"

"After what we watched him do in February and March?" Mizuho asked with a wry tone. "Risking his very SANITY by constantly being in the presence of such pain and misery? Working himself to death sixteen hours per day to make sure no one killed themselves to make that agony go away?! Only letting his anger go when those fool pirates from Konton came here on the Ides of March to kidnap our sisters?!" She shook her head before waving towards Earth. "My friend, right now, he's on Earth outside the Rose City of Ontario preparing a new home for his former wife, a woman who spent over six months — even if she herself was not fully in command of her own mind — totally wrecking his life to force him to become her perfect husband! After we came here and learned that those witless fools in Tomobiki had reverted back to their 'normal' worldview even after learning of the Lady Lum's sufferings — when dearest Ataru would have well been within his rights to do it! — he didn't ONCE give in to his inner demons and unleash the Cyborg on them; note that NONE of them, not even his parents, suffered when the Konton pirates attacked and he went to slay them! Even after _**I**_ effectively forced him to literally RAPE twenty-three innocent women over the last day because they were built as sex gynoids, he's working to help THEM get lives for themselves even if ANY of them — Nay! ALL of them! — would become his mistresses in an INSTANT!" She sighed. "We are not like the other replicas of fictional characters Geran's people created over the years, Noriko! We are the REAL PEOPLE! And when Ataru learns of us — as it WILL happen given we are human and can make mistakes, even I! — and learns how we were made to come here from the embrace of the Wise Lord, he will move HEAVEN itself to make sure we are safe!"

She sighed as she moved to sit on her bed, setting the Staff aside. "I mean this not to hurt you, Noriko, but I have to say this: On Oki-shima, you never ONCE gave up hope of surviving, much less encouraging us to survive! You were no different that Shūya in that regard! Are you going to cast shame on all HE tried to do for us just because we came to a place where we could be at peace and truly LIVE our lives and you can't accept it as such?!"

Noriko gasped on hearing that as her heart beat loudly in her ears. "Mizuho…!"

"Go! I wish to be alone."

The other woman blinked before sadly nodding. She soon stepped downstairs as Mizuho gazed through tear-filled eyes once more towards _Haida_.

"Please do not hate me, my beloved Ataru…!"

**_To be continued…_**

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) As I stated in the writer's notes to Part 1 of _Phoenix From the Ashes_, all references to places, persons and objects originating from China that appeared in _Ranma 1/2_ will be addressed by their proper Mandarin names and not the Japanese versions of those names. Hence, we have terms like **Zhòuquán-xiāng** for "Jusenkyō," **Nánnìquán** for "Nanniichuan" (and **Niángnìquán** for "Nyanniichuan," of course), **Zhǐshuǐtǒng** for "Chiisuiton" and **Nǚjiézú** for "Joketsuzoku" or "Chinese Amazons."

In line with that, I created the term **Màshǐké** to represent the **Musk**, who first appeared in the _Ranma_ manga story "The Guest at the Cat Café" (manga episode #246). While no Chinese characters were used for the name of this tribe as the name itself was a pun on the physical smell of an animal's body, I chose the charcters **罵始殼**; these characters represent "curse," "beginning" and "skin" respectively…which reflects on the Musk tribe's obsession with using the waters of the Niángnìquán spring on animals to allow new mothers to pass on the attributes of their former selves onto their offspring.

As an aside, the names used here for the fellow tribes-people of **Nǚ Shānpú** (**Shampoo**) mentioned here are based on the many other _Ranma_ fanfic stories I've read over the years that have dealt with the internal workings of the Noble Tribe far more deeply than the original manga or anime ever did.

2) Canadian Forces unit notes:

N.C.S.M. _Radisson_ is one of the youngest of the Naval Reserve Divisions. The unit was first commissioned in the city of **Trois-Rivières** ("Three Rivers") in 1986 in the major expansion of the Naval Reserve that also saw N.C.S.M. _Jolliet_ (first mentioned in Part One) commissioned in Sept-Îles.

There has never been an N.C.S.M. _Saint-François_ commissioned ever in the Canadian Navy. However, there WAS an H.M.C.S. _St. Francis_ (pendant **I93**) — named after the **St. Francis River** that forms part of the international border between Québec and New Brunswick on the Canadian side and Maine on the American side; this river is a tributary of the Saint John River — that served from 1940-45. This vessel was an American Clemson-class "four stacker" destroyer commissioned originally as U.S.S. _Bancroft_ (**DD-256**) in 1918 and was gifted to Canada in the **Destroyers for Bases Agreement** negotiated between the leaders of Britain and America in the late summer of 1940 that freed up fifty destroyers from the United States Navy for use by the British and Canadians as escort ships while allowing the Americans to take rent-free leases on British bases in Newfoundland, Bermuda and in the Caribbean for ninety-nine years. Because the new NRD being christened _Saint-François_ (which is French for "Saint Francis") is named after a different river — this waterway, possessing the French name **Rivière Saint-François**, flows northwest through the city of **Drummondville** into the Saint Lawrence River from a small lake of the same name near the town of Thetford Mines — than the one the old _St. Francis_ is named after, the new NRD will NOT inherit the battle honour **Atlantic 1941-43** from the old ship.

Likewise, there has never been an N.C.S.M. _Richelieu_ commissioned into the Navy. This particular NRD is named in tribute to the **Rivière Richelieu**, which drains Lake Champlain on the border between New York and Vermont into the Saint Lawrence River downstream from Montréal. The river was named in tribute to the legendary French priest **Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal-Duc de Richelieu et de Fronsac** (1585-1642), who was the chief minister of King **Louis XIII** (1601-43) during the early years of French settlement in modern day Québec; it was Cardinal Richelieu who was one of the senior patrons to the famous explorer and first governor of New France, **Samuel de Champlain** (1574-1635). Most people these days would recognize Cardinal Richelieu as the nominal villain in Alexandre Dumas' famous 1844 novel _The Three Musketeers_.

However, there WAS an H.M.C.S. _la Hulloise_ (pendant **K668**) that served in the Canadian Navy from 1944-45 and again from 1949-65. This ship was a River-class frigate named in tribute to the city of **Hull** on the eastern shore of the Ottawa River opposite the national capital; the name "la Hulloise" was used for this ship as there was an American vessel named U.S.S. _Hull_ (**DD-350**) then in commission and the Allies wished to avoid any confusion between the two ships. _La Hulloise_ was decommissioned at war's end, but brought back into service four years later to serve as a training ship. In 1957, she was rebuilt into a "Prestonian-class" format to update her electronics and weapons systems, then returned to service for eight more years under pendant **FFE-305** before being finally declared surplus and scrapped. Because of this link between the original ship and the new NRD, N.C.S.M. _la Hulloise_ would inherit the original ship's battle honours.

A sistership of _la Hulloise_ was H.M.C.S. _Prestonian_ (pendant **K662**). _Prestonian_ was first commissioned in 1944 and served until war's end. Decommissioned and placed in storage, she was brought out again in 1953 for conversion into the new escort frigate format which would take its type name from her; she gained the new pendant number **FFE-307** as a result. She served in the Navy until she was finally decommissioned in 1956 and scrapped. As with her "sistership," the new NRD named H.M.C.S. _Prestonian_ would inherit the battle honours of the original ship.

H.M.C.S. _Baffin_ (**T275**) was an Isles-class trawler that had been commissioned in the Royal Navy when she was first built in 1942, but was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy even if her crew were all British. She served on mine-sweeping duties based out of Halifax until war's end, when she was finally decommissioned and returned to full British control. H.M.S. _Baffin_ would remain in service for two more years until she was decommissioned from military duties and became a civilian cargo ship that sailed on under several civilian names until 1983. The new Arctic patrol ship — to be given pendant **PCA-601**; the hull classification symbol "PCA" means "Patrol Corvette, Arctic" — mentioned here would inherit the old _Baffin_'s battle honours, of course. She will be based manned by personnel from a new Newfoundland-based naval reserve unit, H.M.C.S. _Caribou_, out of the city of **Corner Brook** on the Rock's western coast.

The near-namesake of _Baffin_, H.M.C.S. _Qikiqtaaluk_, takes its name from the Inuit name applied to **Baffin Island**, which is Canada's largest island and the fifth-largest island on Earth. The name "Qikiqtaaluk" is also applied to an administrative region of Nunavut which covers almost all of the Canadian Arctic archipelago within the newest territory of the Dominion.

A **tender** is the Navy term for a detachement from a commissioned ship; this would also include the "ships" of the Naval Reserve.

H.M.C.S. _Prevost_ was first formed as the London Division of the **Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve** (**RCNVR**) — the precursor formation to the modern-day Naval Reserve — in 1938 and commissioned under its current name in late 1941. This particular NRD was decommissioned in 1964 due to defence cuts, but recommissioned in 1978 and serves to this very day. The ship itself is named after H.M.S. _Lady Prevost_, a Great Lakes war schooner commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1810 and captured by the Americans during the **Battle of Lake Erie** on 10 September 1813. She was commissioned as U.S.S. _Lady Prevost_ shortly afterwards and served until war's end in 1815 when she was burned and sunk at Erie, Pennsylvania. She was later salvaged, repaired and sold at auction to become a merchantman.

When she was in commission during World War Two, H.M.C.S. _Conestoga_ was based at the **Ontario Training School for Girls**. This institution was first established in 1933 as the first provincially-run reform school for incorrigible and delinquent girls from ages twelve to eighteen. Those sentenced to this institution were found guilty of a whole gamut of charges, ranging from minor crimes to being pronounced "unmanageable" under the **Juvenile Delinquents Act, 1908** for reasons such as truancy, drug use, alcohol use and what was then called "sexual immorality." In 1967, the facility was renamed the "Grandview Training School for Girls," serving as such until final closure in 1976. After that, many former residents came forward with accusations of physical, sexual and psychological abuse by the staff; these revelations wouldn't be made public until 1991 when two former residents were persuaded by their psychologist to reveal what they had endured to the media. Police investigations later forced compensation to be paid by the provincial government to over three hundred victims; the government itself officially apologized for what happened at Grandview in 1999.

A **Third Officer** in the **Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service** (**WRCNS**, known more commonly by the term "Wrens"), which was the Royal Canadian Navy's women's service division, was the equivalent of the standard Navy officer's rank of **Sub-Lieutenant** (NATO rank code OF-1).

**23 Field Ambulance** (**23 FD AMB**) was first introduced in Part 26 of _PFtA_.

23 Field Ambulance's Toronto-based sister unit, **25 Field Ambulance** (**25 FD AMB**), was first established in modern format in 1977 and is descent from "16 Field Ambulance," which served in Siberia as part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Revolution from 1918-19, then was reformed and served during World War Two in Canada itself.

A **flat** in the Navy is the traditional term for a section of corridor connecting various spaces. The term **Regulatory Flats** indicates the area where the **Regulating Petty Officer** (**RPO**) — the senior non-commissioned member of a ship responsible for law enforcement and discipline — and his staff have their offices. On _Haida_, Warrant Officer **Don Glas** of the Air Force serves as the ship's RPO.

The **Canadian Special Operations Regiment** (**CSOR**) is a fighting element of the **Canadian Special Operations Forces Command** (**CANSOFCOM**) based at Petawawa. First established in 2006, CSOR is capable of conducting and enabling a broad range of missions, including direct action, defence diplomacy/military assistance and special reconnaissance. CSOR was heavily involved in operations in Afghanistan.

The **1re Batallion, le Royal 22e Régiment** was the last major Canadian combat unit to serve in Afghanistan as part of **Operation: Athena** (the Canadian contribution to the NATO-led **International Security Assistance Force** [**ISAF**] in that country, which was established in the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington as a way of removing all fundamentalist Islamic controls over that nation and its people). The battalion and its associated battle group were based in that country from October 2010 to July 2011.

The **Canadian Forces Military Police Academy** (**CFMPA**) is, as indicated above, the home training establishment for members of the military's in-house policing service. This school was first established at Unification in 1968 as the "Canadian Forces School of Intelligence and Security" (CFSIS) at the site of the old Canadian Provost Corps School in **Borden**, being the joint training establishment for military police and intelligence personnel under the auspices of the **Security Branch** of the Forces. A separate **Intelligence Branch** was established in 1982, but CFSIS remained the joint training school for both branches until 2000, when a new **Canadian Forces School of Military Intelligence** (**CFSMI**) was formed at **Kingston**. With CFSMI's establishment, CFSIS was given its present name.

3) Translations: **Première Bataillon** — First Battalion; **OPFOR** — Opposition Force; **Tre'cha** — Literally "the passing on," this is a term that is applied both to a process similar to what Spock did in _Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan_ to preserve his soul (_katra_) from being lost AND to a process by which a person's soul is shifted into a replacement body; **Fratello** — Sibling; **Mavan'shagh** — Literally "time of no secrets," this is when a Sagussan drops her mental shields to expose her very soul to a potential bond-mate (doing this — as demonstrated in _The Senior Year_ story "Mie's Story" — normally leads to the person having _mavan'shagh_ performed on her bonding with the person doing the _mavan'shagh_); **Wǔshù** — Literally "martial art," this is the catch-all phrase for all Chinese martial disciplines; **Bō** — Japanese version of a quarterstaff, measuring 180 centimetres (70.8 inches) long on average; **Ashi'cha** — Elder Mother; **Iinchō** — Literally "committee chairman," this is the term applied to the person elected to represent a class of students in a school student council; **Ninjō** — Literally "human compassion," this is the feelings and virtue that both complements and opposes the value of _giri_ (as described in Part Two), thus showing that even the most duty-bound person is not without personal feelings; **Rose City of Ontario** — Nickname for the city of **Welland**.

4) The **Faravahar** is the most familiar symbol of Zoroastrianism. This sign depicts a disc mated to the wings and tail feathers of a vulture (a sacred animal in Zoroastrian belief). From the disk emerges a **fravaši** ("guardian spirit"), who is normally depicted facing the viewer's left. In the modern interpretation of this symbol, the Faravahar acts as a visual reminder of a believer's true purpose in life, which is to live in such a way that his/her soul progresses towards a state of **frašōkərəti** ("making wonderful/excellent") and joins Ahura Mazdā after death in Heaven.

5) The names of various **phobias** are properly based on Greek terms; the word **phobia** is based on the Greek term _phóbos_ ("mortal fear"). Hence, I devised the following terms to describe the general feelings spoken of by Luna Lovegood in her conversation with Miyamoto Kasumi:

**Rhabdophobia** combines _rhabdos_ (literally "rod" or "staff"…which can also be used for a magical wand) and _phobia_. I find this term to be a lot nicer and more eloquent than "manaphobia" (or more properly, **Mageiaphobia**, which uses the Greek term _mageía_ ["magic"]) to describe a fear of magic. In truest essence, this is the fear of magic being done using any sort of physical medium, like a wand.

The polar opposite of rhabdophobia is **Mugalophobia**. This word combines _múgalos_ (literally "field mice") and _phobia_. _Múgalos_ was the term the translators of the Greek edition of the _Harry Potter_ novels used to represent the British English concept of "muggle."

6) In the universe of my _Icemaidens_ stories and the universe of these stories, the **Separation Act, 1692** was the law that was passed by the Wizard's Council of the United Kingdoms of England and Scotland — then the ruling body of all magicals in the British Isles; it would be reformed in 1705 into **Her Majesty's Ministry of Magic** — that officially accepted the **International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy** as the effective law of the land. To ensure the Separation Act was accepted by all, the **Magical Royal Proclamation, 1692** was issued by the ruling monarchs at the time, **King William III** (1650-1702, ruled Britain from 1689 unto death) and his wife and co-ruler **Queen Mary II** (1662-94) to put the magic of the Crown behind the Separation Act and make it binding magical law as well as the cornerstone of the Magical Constitution of the Realm. In the universe of my stories, a Magical Royal Proclamation — and its equivalents in other nations — would be the supreme magical law of the land.

As an aside, the rumours concerning an ancestor of **Draco Malfoy** cursing **Queen Elizabeth I** (1533-1603, ruled 1558 unto death) are just rumours; as Luna Lovegood noted above, magical bonds of loyalty to the Crown even before the Separation Act codified such in the Preamble would have stopped such a thing before it got out of hand. The rumours — as mentioned at the Pottermore website and noted in the Harry Potter Wikia — stated that Draco's ancestor put a jinx on the Virgin Queen to ensure she would never marry anyone because the Queen refused his advances.

7) The other would-be infantry soldiers mentioned here are, as noted above, based on adult-form replicas of the child cyborg characters from _Gunslinger Girl_. Given names and/or family names are based on either the characters' full names from before their conversion into cyborgs or the names of the _fratello_ who take charge of them after their conversions.

As an aside, _Dengeki Daiō_ is a monthly comic published by the ASCII Media Works group; this was the group that published the original _Sister Princess_ short stories at the turn of the millennium in a sister publication, _Dengeki G's Magazine_. Other manga series that first appeared in _Dengeki Daiō_ includes Azuma Kiyohiko's famous works _Azumanga Daiō_ (1999-2002) and _Yotsuba&!_ (2003-ongoing). _Gunslinger Girl_ was first published in this magazine in May 2002; the series finally wrapped up in September 2012.

8) As I only know the details of the story of _Battle Royale_ through the American English translation of the manga series as done by Keith Giffen, which was released by Tokyopop almost at the same time the original manga was published by Taguchi Masayuki, the interpretation of the characters who appear here at the end of this part is based on that version of the manga…though I do spice elements of the movie and novel as referenced in the Battle Royale Wikia website into these characters, such as **Noda Satomi**'s insomnia.

As an aside, the two fan fiction stories referenced by Asai Mayumi in the scene in _Haida_'s Sick Bay are two stories written by **Technomad** that are marked as favourites of mine at this website. The first is _Heads is Heads_; this is where **Kiriyama Kazuo**'s coin toss comes up heads and he chooses to resist _The Program_. The second one is _Folie a Deux_, where **Yamamoto Kazuhiko** and **Ogawa Sakura** turn out NOT to be the sweet and perfect couple they appear to be in the original _BR_. I definitely recommend both stories for those who are ultimately tired of reading _BR_ fan fiction stories that simply translates the original theme of the novel/movie/manga into a different setting or different nation.


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